The city was quiet when Nara's car pulled into the driveway late Saturday night. The trip had gone well, smooth meetings, satisfied clients, and a signed renewal that would make her boss proud.
Still, she felt… tired. Not the kind of tired that sleep could fix, but the kind that came from being too many things to too many people all week.
She dropped her bags by the couch and sat for a long moment in silence. The hum of the refrigerator was the only sound.
Her phone buzzed. A message from her coworker, Lina.
> Lina: You missed quite a dinner last night 😏
Nara: Haha, I bet. Everyone went?
Lina: Almost everyone. Except you, obviously. And guess who asked about you? 👀
Nara frowned, half smiling.
> Nara: Who?
Lina: The man himself. Mr. Dynamite. 😅
Nara: You're joking.
Lina: I swear. He was polite about it, though, just asked if you were attending. Hellen told him you were traveling. He didn't say anything else, but he had this look after. You know the type.
Nara leaned back on the couch, heart thudding before she could stop it.
She tried to brush it off, typing with deliberate calm.
> Nara: He was probably just asking about the team, nothing more.
Lina: Mmm-hmm. If you say so. 😏 Anyway, the dinner was fancy. He even gave a toast about "acknowledging the efforts of those who go unseen." Sounded a lot like you, honestly.
Nara stared at the screen, that last line staying longer than she wanted it to.
Those who go unseen.
She shut her phone, shaking her head with a small laugh. "You're reading into things," she muttered to herself.
But as she walked to her room and started unpacking, her thoughts drifted, uninvited to Keigh's face. The quiet power in his presence. The steadiness in his gaze. The unspoken something she'd felt that night at the party and again across the press hall. She didn't know what it was. She didn't want to name it.
All she knew was that it lingered, stubbornly, as though the universe wasn't done with whatever thread was forming between them.
By Monday, life had slipped back into its usual pace, emails, deadlines, coffee runs. Yet there was a new undercurrent to it all.
When she walked into the office, Mrs. Hellen called out, "Oh, Nara! Good timing. Mr. Dynamite's team sent a follow-up proposal for another upcoming event. I'm assigning you as the lead again since you already handled their last one so well."
Her steps faltered, just slightly. "I—me?"
"Yes," Hellen said, smiling. "You're efficient, composed, and apparently, his team was quite impressed. Consider it a compliment."
Nara managed a professional smile, though her mind was already spinning.
Fate, it seemed, wasn't done circling her back to the man she'd tried not to think about.