Tom and Conrad had soon gotten used to living this poor life, but at least they were together. They realized they had to get their asses together if they wanted to make this work.
So, they came up with some kind of master plan to make money.
They both applied for a job that didn't require much experience—just physical labour.
They became school janitors.
Yeah...
They cleaned the hallways, classrooms, and even the toilets.
But there was a catch.
The job paid them daily, and the pay was only enough to buy one shawarma.
At least they had solved the problem of food.
Now, the only thing left was figuring out how they were going to survive.
So they decided to save every dollar they earned.
During the day, they survived on one shawarma, drank water from the school's water coolers, and sometimes ate the leftover food from the canteen. At night, they would go to sleep hungry, but they filled the school's discarded plastic trash bags with water to keep themselves hydrated and make their stomachs feel less empty.
Now it was finally time to use their master plan.
After saving money for about a week, they decided to illegally smuggle cigarettes into the school and sell them to students at a much higher price.
They bought each cigarette for 1 dollar and sold it for 3 dollars.
A 2-dollar profit on every cigarette.
Business was actually going pretty well...
Until they realized the school had cigarette sensors.
Yeah...
Only Conrad got caught.
Why only Conrad and not Tom?
Because Tom was disguised as a female janitor.
With oranges stuffed inside his shirt, long brunette hair, and a surprisingly convincing disguise.
(Tom had that feminine gaze on his face which Conrad completely lacked. Conrad had more PSL, while Tom had more appeal. Either way, both of them were ridiculously good-looking.)
By the end of the day, Conrad was fired.
But...
He had still managed to make 40 dollars.
For someone who had been sleeping under a bridge just days ago...
That was a huge win.
Meanwhile, Tom had come up with his own way of making money.
Whenever the teachers left the staff room or their offices unattended, Tom would quietly slip inside and steal a small amount of cash from their wallets or bags.
The funny part was...
He never got caught.
Whenever he stole, he was simply "Tom."
Moments later, he would change back into the female janitor.
No one ever suspected her.
Tom also made sure to take only a small amount from one teacher at a time so that nobody immediately noticed anything missing.
By the end of the second week, on Day 6, he had made around 100 dollars.
Satisfied with the money, he decided it was time to quit.
His reason?
"I'm pregnant."
Somehow...
They actually believed him.
And just like that...
The female janitor disappeared forever.
Now Conrad and Tom finally had some decent money in their hands.
Their hammock setup had also been working surprisingly well over the past few days.
That night, they counted everything they had saved.
210 dollars.
In the area they lived, a small room could be rented for 30 dollars a day.
That meant they had enough money to rent a room for an entire week.
It was only a tiny 1 BHK.
But compared to living under a bridge...
It felt like heaven.
For the first time in what felt like forever...
Conrad and Tom walked into a place they could finally call home.
They looked around the room.
There wasn't much.
A small bed.
A fan.
A tiny kitchen.
Four walls.
But to them...
It was a palace.
That night, without worrying about rain, hunger, or whether the rope would snap again...
They closed their eyes...
And had the best sleep of their lives.