The two employees immediately called over their coworkers.
A short while later, four more employees arrived.
Kabir pointed at the display case.
“Put your phones here.”
“Sir...” one of the employees protested, reluctant and confused.
“Put them down!”
One by one, they placed their phones down.
Kabir checked the screens that were still open.
He picked up the first phone.
“How old are you?”
Its owner scratched his head.
“Why, sir?”
“Why are you still watching Cocomelon?”
Several employees immediately held back their laughter.
“It’s for my niece, sir.”
Kabir snorted. “Oh.”
He picked up the next phone.
“Are you a man or a woman?”
Its owner immediately glared at him. “A man, sir!”
“Then why are you watching gossip?”
The employee fell silent. “It’s...”
“That’s not good. It’s all about other people’s marriages.”
Kabir set that phone down and picked up the next one.
“Wow.” His expression changed this time.
“I like this.”
The phone’s owner smiled shyly.
“You’re religious, huh?”
The employee named Ali nodded.
“I just like listening to sermons, sir.”
“Now that’s more like it. Use your gadget wisely.” Kabir patted Ali on the shoulder.
“I get some good karma too when you regularly watch religious lectures. My free Wi-Fi isn’t going to waste.”
The other employees snickered, whether they were mocking or laughing at one of their coworker’s habits.
“The rest of you, don’t laugh. Remember, heaven and hell are real.”
The employees who had been laughing immediately clamped their mouths shut.
Kabir then picked up the fourth phone. His eyebrows shot up. “What is this?”
Its owner immediately went pale.
“You like Korean dramas?”
“Yes, sir.”
Kabir shook his head. “Just like my wife.”
Several employees laughed again.
Kabir then picked up the last two phones.
But the moment he saw their screens, his expression changed.
He looked back and forth between the two employees. “Well, well.”
Both of them swallowed hard.
“You two...” Kabir raised the phones. “I caught you watching Ku-Tub.”
The two employees exchanged glances.
“What’s wrong with that, sir? Ku-Tub is trending right now.”
“I don’t like Ku-Tub. When did you install it?” Kabir pressed them, because although he owned a cellphone sales counter, he was limited when it came to social media. In fact, he had only found out the app existed when his wife told him she was making content on it.
One of them answered quietly, “Recently, sir.”
“Recently?”
“Yes.”
“Both of you?” Kabir pointed at them with his index finger.
“Yes, sir.”
Kabir narrowed his eyes. “Ah, you’re lying!”
Both employees immediately fell silent.
Kabir stepped closer. “Uninstall it now.”
“Sir...”
“Uninstall it!”
“But...”
“No buts!” Kabir pointed at their phone screens. “Don’t even think about sneaking a look at or following my wife on Ku-Tub again. Understand?”
One of them nodded quickly. “Understood, sir.”
“Good.” But Kabir eyed one of them suspiciously.
He returned their phones.
However, just as he turned away, one of the employees mustered the courage to ask a question.
“Sir...”
Kabir looked back.
“What?”
“Sorry, but I don’t want to delete Ku-Tub,” another employee said.
Kabir’s brows drew together. “Why not?”
“Ku-Tub is my entertainment, sir.”
Kabir let out a rough breath. He understood that it was their right. He had no right to restrict them, much less forbid them. But he also couldn’t stand the thought of them watching his wife dance around on the app.
“All right. But promise me you won’t follow my wife’s Ku-Tub account. Do you understand?”
Both employees nodded, and Kabir headed toward his cashier’s desk. He couldn’t be sure that the two employees would obey his request. They could still watch his wife’s videos without following her, since her account was public.
Then he picked up his own phone.
He called Kharisma again. She still didn’t answer. Kabir’s jaw tightened.
“Kharis, if you don’t answer my call right now...”
He paused for a moment.
“...I’ll make sure that account of yours with nearly a million followers disappears.”
Kabir clenched his fist, unconcerned with the hard work his wife had put into building her account.
He would save his wife from cellphone cameras and... from the lecherous gazes of the men watching her through their screens.
Without Kabir realizing it, one of his employees was still staring at his phone. On the screen, Kharisma’s video began playing again. Without sound.
And the number of viewers kept rising.
10,000.
20,000.
50,000.
“Look, Mrs. Kharis really does have a Spanish-guitar figure,” the employee whispered to his coworker, glancing toward where Kabir was standing.