We were officially dismissed at five.
Early, technically—at least compared to the usual crawl toward seven o'clock.
Hale clapped his hands once, loud enough to cut through the leftover chatter from everyone still replaying our presentation in their heads.
"Alright, listen up," he said. "Word from the top: we're closing early. Boss said, and I quote—'Good work deserves fresh air and a Friday that doesn't end in darkness.'" Hale smirked. "So get out of here before he changes his mind."
That earned a few cheers.
Ji-ho immediately threw his bag over his shoulder like the building was about to explode. Noah muttered something about finally eating real food. Tasha looked relieved for the first time all day.
Me?
I just felt lighter. Still buzzing from how well we'd done.
We were packing up for the early dismissal when Derrick drifted over, leaning on the edge of my desk like he had nothing better to do.
