During lunch, Elise and Evelyn borrowed a conference room to discuss the direction of the main character's design.
Evelyn was already halfway through her bento, taking bite after bite, while Elise hadn't even opened hers yet, too absorbed in studying her script.
"The second male lead is cold and distant, hard to get close to, but when it comes to the heroine, he always loses his cool and becomes someone else..." Elise tapped her pen against her temple, trying to spark some inspiration.
"A cool image works. It gives him a mature charm," Evelyn said, wiping the grease from her mouth with a wet wipe. "What about the third male lead's personality? Have you thought of that yet?"
"Of course," Elise looked up from her script, her smile soft like a cherry blossom petal landing on her face. "Jakob."
"You're really going to base him on our supervisor?" Evelyn leaned her cheek on her hand, glancing sideways at her. "He's gentle, sophisticated, whether he's talking or working, he has that air of a refined prince."
"That's why I think he's perfect for the third male lead. If I didn't already have the main lead in mind, Jakob would've been great for that too," Elise said as she flipped through a stack of name cards. She had a whole notebook of common and rare surnames she used to pick out character names.
"But if he were the main lead, there wouldn't be much spark. He's too mild, like a good little boy," Evelyn mused, tilting her head thoughtfully.
"I think he has his own charm. A woman who marries a man like that—faithful, steady, growing old together—that's not just lucky, that's real happiness," Elise praised, though men like him were hard to come by.
"Wouldn't it get a little boring after a while?" Evelyn said, applying her rosewood lipstick. "But he's easy on the eyes. Having a handsome guy like that around the office is good for everyone's eyesight."
Elise burst into laughter. "Did your eye doctor say your vision got better after your last check-up?"
"Nope," Evelyn shook her head, flipping her phone to Jakob's Facebook profile. "Maybe I just haven't looked enough."
"How about printing out his picture and keeping it on your desk? Maybe your eyesight will improve if you stare at it every day. You could make it your phone wallpaper too," Elise teased, glancing at a photo of Jakob and Hannah Bell, the company's music composer, on his profile. "Want me to crop Hannah out or swap her with you?"
"That'd be too fangirly—that's not my style," Evelyn laughed, wiping away the tears that laughter had forced out with her finger.
Lunch ended, and Elise and Evelyn returned to their desks, diving back into their work to make progress.
The sound of clapping filled the room, and in an instant, Zayne's figure came into view. Everyone lifted their heads, turning in his direction.
"Come on, everyone, look over here!" Zayne raised both arms above his head, clapping loudly as he cheered, "Our game Love in Its Brightest Hour has hit third place on this week's popular games chart, and since yesterday, we've had over a hundred new downloads. So tonight, we're all going to the movies—on me!"
"Elise, Sabrina made the charts! We really need to celebrate!" Evelyn rushed to Elise's side, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she congratulated her.
Elise scrolled through the top game rankings on her app store, pointing to the number one game. "Sword Heroes in the Mist is still holding first place. No wonder—Mylee's storylines are impossible not to love."
Evelyn nodded. "Considering how popular fantasy and martial arts dramas are these days, it's not surprising."
Elise saw it differently. "But it takes great writing to keep that top spot locked down."
"But what movie is Zayne planning to see? Are there any good superhero or romance films out right now?" Evelyn quickly searched for recent movie releases, and being a film buff, she had already seen most of them.
Elise shrugged. She had no idea either.
------
In the pitch-dark theater, a suspenseful mystery film was playing. Zayne had gone all out, renting out the entire space so that every employee could pick their favorite seat to enjoy the show.
Evelyn chewed on her popcorn, her brows furrowed into a long, thin line. The movie had just begun, and she already nearly choked on her popcorn.
"Please, you have to help me find the killer. Every night, I dream of my son comforting me, telling me to keep living. As a mother, my heart is broken. He was always such a good boy, never caused me any trouble. Why would they kill him? We already paid the money—why couldn't they just let him go?" Mrs. Craig was in agony, her face twisted with grief, tears soaking the strands of her hair.
Detective Alma Luna nodded in acknowledgment. "Mrs. Craig, please accept our condolences. The police have already set up a task force, and we will do everything we can to catch the killer. Please take care of yourself."
The coroner, wearing white gloves, crouched beside the body of the Craig boy. Alma observed his family. Mrs. Craig was heartbroken, sobbing uncontrollably over the loss of her son. But Mr. Craig was different. On the surface, he appeared strong, but it felt more like indifference, as if it wasn't his own son who had died, but a stranger.
The boy, only seventeen years old, had been brutally murdered. His abdomen was split open, and even his face no longer resembled how he used to look.
Evelyn coughed a few times before taking a sip of her Coke, her cheeks twitching slightly. She had thought that Zayne, who always had a soft spot for romance movies, would pick a love story. Instead, they were watching a thriller. The first scene was a teenage boy with his abdomen ripped open, his face so disfigured it didn't look human anymore.
Elise sat in her seat, leaning her head to the left, blinking repeatedly as she struggled to fight off sleep. Over the past few days, she had been staying up late brainstorming ideas for the new game's script, only getting about five hours of sleep a night. Even on her days off, she often worked from morning until night, barely eating her meals on time.
Sitting to Elise's left, Jakob was fully engrossed in the movie's plot, not noticing the weight on his shoulder until he realized that Elise had fallen asleep.
Jakob didn't wake her. He kept his eyes on the giant screen, eager to see where the plot would go next.
"I heard Mr. Craig was very strict about his son's grades. He even locked him in a dark room once when Mrs. Craig was away on a business trip." Alma, sitting in the passenger seat of the police car, pieced together the Craig boy's life with Officer Deangelo Edwards.
"The other officers just found these items from the photos. They look like… torture devices." Deangelo's face grew somber as he handed the photos to Alma.
There were still thirty minutes left in the movie. Evelyn had finished her large bucket of popcorn and, without thinking, glanced to her left, planning to ask Elise for a few pieces. To her surprise, she saw Elise asleep, leaning against Jakob. Her eyes widened in shock.
Jakob, the person in question, didn't react at all. His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Evelyn stealthily took a picture of the scene and saved it carefully on her phone.
The long movie finally reached its conclusion, and after the credits rolled, Evelyn gently woke Elise.
Coming out of the darkness into the light, Elise's eyes took a moment to adjust. She rubbed them vigorously before daring to open them fully.
Realizing she had fallen asleep on Jakob's shoulder, Elise's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She quickly apologized to him.
"It's fine. You're probably just exhausted from work," Jakob said, giving her an excuse to ease her embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry, I can't believe I fell asleep." Elise apologized again and again, knowing it would be awkward to face him at work after this.
"But I have to go now. You should head home and get some rest too." Jakob's warm voice eased some of Elise's embarrassment.
"Goodbye." Evelyn responded on behalf of Elise, who was still dazed, as they watched Jakob leave.
Leaving the theater, Evelyn and Elise walked together to the parking lot, ready to drive home.
"I knew I should've gotten more sleep. I have no idea how bad I must've looked while I was sleeping." Elise sat in the passenger seat, her face still showing obvious worry.
"For all you know, you could've drooled. He probably just didn't mention it." Evelyn gripped the steering wheel, keeping her eyes on the road as she teased Elise.
Elise's face fell as she grumbled, "That sounds so embarrassing. If I were lying on you, I wouldn't have to worry about shame."
Evelyn teased, "No, no, my shoulder's not your drooling spot. That's a hard no."
"Ugh, just let me get a fever when I get home. I can't face Jakob," Elise clasped her hands together, praying sincerely. "Ugh, just let me get a fever when I get home. I can't face Jakob," Elise clasped her hands together, praying sincerely.
