cheese macaroni

"Can you keep a secret?"

You asked the stranger sitting two tables away from you. His ears caught your question amidst the loud chatter and turned to face you, his brown eyes meeting yours. He paused for a moment and nodded, pursing his lips to suppress a big grin.

Seated grandly on the table in front of the both of you was a plate that held a generous amount of cheese macaroni. It's comforting aroma drifted to the noses of you and that stranger, who were both waiting for the number on the receipts to be called by the intercom that the shop had. It felt really humorous and stood out but no one seemed to be bothered about it. The people were really busy. There was a volleyball team not too far behind you that was celebrating their fifth anniversary and a group of businessmen in the corner of the shop, murmuring and typing on their laptops at a steady and melodic rhythm.

You regretted the choice of choosing to eat a fast food place, as much as it was convenient, it was really crowded on Sundays. But your options were limited, seeing as your forgetful self left your adorable, purple purse that had the cutest flowers embroidered on it back at home and only had a couple bucks that you found in your pocket miraculously. And the fact that it was the closest place that sold food to your home was wonderful.

Deciding to spend some of your time doing something fun, you decided to tease the stranger who sat beside you, who seemed to be staring at the plate of cheese macaroni long before you. He was a man around his 40's and his clothes were simple, a shirt with a jacket and some ripped jeans. However, it was haggard and torn in some places but you didn't question it, deciding to respect his privacy. His face, which seemed a bit dirty and wrinkled, took on a curious expression as he waited to hear what you had to say.

"I saw a man order a plate of cheese macaroni from here and left it there right after he bought it! I tried looking around to find the man but he was nowhere to be found." You whispered, eyes trained on the food pitifully, like it was infested by crows in a hawker center.

The man was silent at your words but his eyes seemed to hold something unreadable. He rubbed his hands and licked his lips, a smile of mischief on his face. For a moment, it felt like you were in front of a young, innocent teenage boy who just wanted to have some fun and stir some trouble.

You frowned slightly as he moved out of his seat slightly. He definitely didn't look like he had much money, but you knew he was waiting for his food too, judging by the paper he had clenched in his hand.

"S-Surely you're not going to eat it, are you?" You asked, slightly disgusted when he stood up. On the inside, you were a sea of guilt. You had no idea he would go as far as to consume the food that was left there. You weren't even sure if it was edible at this point.

He perked up at your words and giggled in amusement. He threw his paper behind him with a flick of his wrist and it landed on his seat. Taking a closer look, you realize that it was, in fact, not a receipt, but a small, blank, piece of paper with something scrawled on it messily.

Squinting, you read it to yourself softly.

'3R3H'

You raised your eyebrow slightly and you could feel wave after wave of guilt and regret hitting you rapidly inside, overlapping your confusion. You hated to assume anything but, what if he had no idea how to read and spent his whole life doing hard labor?Your throat felt like it was constricted and you immediately raised a hand towards him, wanting to stop him and tell him that you were joking when he rejected your hand kindly.

Shaking his head, he put on a set of blue gloves from his pocket. The rubbery material stretched as his hand fit in it and he turned to look at you with a smile.

"Eat it? Definitely not. Don't you see it? The jewel hidden beneath the cheese?"

You were speechless as you glanced back at the plate of cheese macaroni. It looked completely ordinary, macaroni covered in a generous blanket of cheese. There was nothing odd about it at all! You had no idea what he was on about, but you felt immensely uncomfortable as you saw him move towards the plate casually, his gloves reaching into his pocket to reveal a set of cutlery bind together by a red rubber band that you would find commonly to assist in wrapping food and more.

The customers in the shop seemed to have noticed what was happening and turned to stare at the stranger as he messed around with the macaroni, the smile he gave you still plastered on his face. He looked....well, creepy.

There were goosebumps up your skin, something you haven't felt in a while.

You could feel a big headache coming as the distinctive sounds of snapping and texting filled your ears. Loud giggles erupted from a group of girls on your right as they pointed a manicured finger at him, probably making fun of him. Groaning, you tried to hide your face with your hands when you saw an employee from the shop walk towards the man calmly. You had a peek of his expression and it was scarily calm, the tension radiating around him giving away his emotions. You could faintly hear the words coming out of the employee's mouth and the other cheerful voice who cut in once in a while.

"He's absolutely mad."

You stated, standing up and making your way back, missing the loud cries from the employee coming towards your table with your food.