"There's no need to waste time thinking about hypothetical questions like that," Braden said, as if discussing something that had nothing to do with him. His detached attitude drew a clear boundary with a single sentence. "There's no need to waste time thinking about hypothetical questions like that," Braden said, as if discussing something that had nothing to do with him. His detached attitude drew a clear boundary with a single sentence.
He didn't think there was anything worth discussing. To him, Mylee was just a colleague—probably not even a friend.
Ruth resumed eating her pudding, pouting as she grumbled, "Sounds like an excuse to fool kids."
"If you had to explain everything, you'd never finish explaining your whole life," Braden chuckled. "You're still young—it's normal not to understand everything."
He took a sip of his wine, the tannins leaving a rich, bitter taste. Through the glass, Elise's figure momentarily appeared in his line of sight. He set the glass back down and reached for his phone, where most of the unread notifications were from Mylee.
Most of Mylee's messages were unrelated to work, and he had no interest in reading them. He deleted them all at once.
"I'm twenty-five! I know plenty," Ruth muttered, her enthusiasm dampened. She pulled out her phone to watch a drama, trying to shift her mood.
------
On a workday, Elise was at her desk as usual, writing the latest Chapter for her otome game's heroine, Sabrina. Notifications kept popping up in the bottom right corner of her screen, distracting her.
Ever since she had come clean with Zayne, he would occasionally pull some profiles from a matchmaking agency he thought were promising and send them to her, as if hoping she would pick her perfect match from the masses.
Even though she repeatedly told him it wasn't necessary, he acted like a big brother, always concerned about her love life.
She ignored the messages, refusing to check them, but he still asked her three times a day how she felt about the profiles, if there was a spark, or if any had made her heart flutter.
"Zayne, it's not appropriate to talk about my personal feelings during work hours. If we keep this up, I'll never finish my work," Elise finally replied, overwhelmed by his constant messages.
"Oh, I see. Well, tell me your thoughts after work then." Zayne had just sent that message when he quickly added, "Do you think I'd make a good matchmaker? I've been getting into it lately. Maybe I should start my own matchmaking agency?"
Elise felt exasperated. She stared at her script progress—barely 30% done after an entire morning. The deadline was Friday, just two days away, and she had already resigned herself to a few sleepless nights to catch up.
Maybe Zayne was finally busy with work because she got a brief moment to breathe without his messages. But then, out of nowhere, a message came from Mylee with an attached file—the initial character design for the heroine.
Elise opened the file and rubbed her eyes, unable to believe it. She had expected Mylee to write the heroine as independent, sharp, and even a bit mysterious. But the actual character was ditzy and easily mistook other people's manipulations as acts of kindness.
"I got some materials from Mylee today. It seems like she wants the heroine to be this naive, sweet girl," Elise messaged Evelyn to discuss. "I got some materials from Mylee today. It seems like she wants the heroine to be this naive, sweet girl," Elise messaged Evelyn to discuss.
Evelyn had gone to a partner company for a meeting early in the morning, so they could only communicate via text.
Not long after—about the time it took to drink a cup of tea—Evelyn replied, "Didn't you say she likes strong, smart female leads? Why would she go with a naive one?"
Elise sent a question mark emoji. "I don't know either. I don't mind, but I'm wondering if we need to change the male lead's personality to match."
"Change it? No need. Just stick with your original idea." Evelyn added, "I'm heading back to the meeting. It was just break time."
Elise closed the messaging window and refocused on Mylee's character design file. She took a sip of her coffee, recalling what Ruth had said and reflecting on her own interactions with Mylee.
Mylee always gave off a vibe of intellectual charm and personal magnetism, with just a hint of mystery. Could a woman like that really have a meaningless, short fling that lasted only three months?
No matter how she thought about it, it didn't make sense.
Elise shook her head and forced herself to focus back on work. It wasn't her concern, and there was no point in overthinking it.
A cup of iced coffee was placed on Elise's desk. She looked up to see that it was Jakob's thoughtful gesture. Smiling, she thanked him. She did have a habit of drinking a cup or two when she needed a pick-me-up.
"This coffee couldn't have come at a better time." Elise smiled sweetly, holding the cup. "Thanks."
"Can this coffee get me a chance to go to the exhibit with you?" Jakob chuckled warmly. "It's a little gift I got from a partner the other day. It's a gaming expo—I thought you might be interested."
Elise smiled and asked, "As a boss and employee?"
Jakob paused for a moment, then found a fitting answer. "Well… as friends, of course."
"When's the exhibit? If it's this week, I might have to rush through my script," Elise said, her shoulders slumping as she thought of her unfinished work.
"If your script is still giving you trouble, maybe I can offer some inspiration," Jakob said, placing the tickets on the table. "The expo starts next month."
Elise lit up, "No, I'll push through and finish on time. That way, I can enjoy the exhibit without distractions."
