Minra had barely recovered from Reyne’s break room interrogation.

  She thought that was bad.

  She thought that was the worst of it.

  But then.

  Then, she heard what happened in the meeting.

  He defended her.

  Without hesitation.

  Without second-guessing.

  Without even getting remotely irritated.

  And that?

  That sent her into full-blown panic mode.

  Because now—

  Now, Reyne was definitely suspicious.

  Now, Eunhe was definitely noticing something.

  Now, people were going to start watching them more closely.

  And so.

  So, there was only one thing she could do.

  She had to act normal.

  Extra normal.

  Painfully, obviously, ridiculously normal.

  And that was the first mistake.

  .

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The next morning, Minra walked into the office early.

  Earlier than usual.

  So early that even the coffee machine hadn’t finished warming up yet.

  But she wasn’t avoiding anyone.

  Not at all.

  She was just… being productive.

  Yes.

  That was it.

  And when HyunSeong walked in minutes later, pausing slightly when he saw her, she barely reacted.

  Barely.

  She didn’t stiffen.

  She didn’t suddenly look away.

  She didn’t overthink her movements.

  Except—

  Except she was thinking too much about not overthinking,and suddenly, everything was wrong.

  She stood up too quickly.

  She smiled too wide.

  She said ‘good morning’ in a voice that was definitely not hers.

  And HyunSeong?

  HyunSeong immediately noticed.

  He said nothing at first.

  Just watched her.

  Then—

  "You’re early."

  Minra froze.

  "Yeah!" she blurted. "Super early. Early is good! Being early is productive. Being early is—"

  She shut her mouth.

  HyunSeong raised a brow.

  Minra swallowed hard.

  Okay.

  Okay, this wasn’t working.

  She had to calm down.

  She had to act natural.

  So she grabbed her coffee, turned to leave—

  And immediately knocked into the desk, spilling coffee all over her paperwork.

  .

  HyunSeong sighed.

  Stepped forward.

  Grabbed the tissues before she could even move.

  And suddenly—

  Suddenly, Minra was acutely aware of how close he was.

  How effortlessly he cleaned up the mess.

  How completely, utterly unbothered he seemed.

  Like.

  Like nothing had happened.

  Like she wasn’t making things weird.

  Like he wasn’t the same man who had kissed her senselessly just days ago.

  And that?

  That only made her panic even more.

  So she did the only thing she could think of.

  She grabbed the first stack of files she could find, turned away, and marched toward the door.

  "I have work to do!" she announced.

  HyunSeong watched her go.

  Expression unreadable.

  And when she disappeared down the hall, he finally exhaled.

  Because.

  Because.

  Because she was terrible at hiding things.

  But instead of being irritated, instead of feeling impatient—

  He just smirked.

  Because now?

  Now, she was running straight into her own confusion.

  And eventually—she was going to have to stop running.

  .

  Meanwhile, across the office—

  Reyne leaned back in his chair, smirking at Eunhe.

  "Did you see that?"

  Eunhe, sipping her coffee, sighed.

  "She’s acting weird, but that doesn’t mean something happened."

  "No, no, no," Reyne grinned. "This is guilt."

  Eunhe arched a brow.

  "And how would you know?"

  Reyne crossed his arms.

  "Because that’s exactly how I act when I do something I’m not supposed to."

  Eunhe narrowed her eyes.

  "You do things you’re not supposed to all the time."

  "Exactly!"

  Eunhe pinched the bridge of her nose.

  "I regret sitting next to you."

  But Reyne wasn’t listening anymore.

  Because now—

  Now, he was completely focused on how to get Minra to break first.

  And if there was one thing Reyne loved more than causing chaos—

  It was winning.

  And this?

  This was now a game.

  .

  Chapter 37: "The Chaos That Reyne Started"