By the time Su Yao made it back to her desk, her heart still felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her ribs. She sat down too quickly, bumped her knee on the underside of the desk, hissed in pain, then tried to pretend she was fine when Shanshan gave her The Look.
"You're shaking," Shanshan whispered.
"I'm not shaking," Su Yao whispered back.
"You ARE. Your soy milk cup is vibrating like it's possessed."
Su Yao looked down.
Her hand was literally trembling around the cup, the liquid inside doing a pathetic tsunami impression.
She slammed the cup onto the desk. "There. See? Not shaking."
"You slapped it like you were disciplining it," Shanshan muttered.
Su Yao didn't respond. Her brain was still replaying THE MOMENT.
That stupid elevator moment.
That stupid, soft "careful."
His fingers warm on her wrist.
The way he looked at her like he… recognized her?
Nope. Impossible.
She probably resembled someone he knew. Or maybe all CEOs were naturally dramatic inside elevators.
She shook her head and opened the computer, trying to force her brain into work mode.
The computer froze halfway into loading.
"It's doing this too?!" she complained under her breath.
Shanshan leaned over. "Relax, it does that. Give it a firm tap."
"Where? On the top?"
"Anywhere."
"That sounds like bad advice."
"It always works."
Su Yao tapped the side of the monitor. Nothing. She sighed, tapped harder. Still nothing.
Shanshan rolled her eyes, reached over, slapped the top of the monitor like it was an unruly pet, and it magically came to life.
Su Yao gawked. "How—?"
"Experience."
"Violence?"
"Same thing," Shanshan said proudly.
Su Yao laughed despite herself and started reading the task list left on her desk.
— Preliminary data cleaning
— Reformat credit reports
— Sort department emails
— Prepare summary for next week
— Coordinate with IT regarding login error
It all looked fine until she scrolled down.
There, at the bottom, in the sharp, clean handwriting she now recognized (and dreaded) was a note.
"Send updated files to CEO's office by 4 PM. – F.M."
Su Yao stared at it.
Shanshan peeked over her shoulder.
"OOOOH," she breathed. "You have to go upstairs."
"No."
"Yes."
"No, no, no. I'll email it. Send it by carrier pigeon. Hire someone from downstairs to do it. I cannot go to the CEO's office today. I will combust."
"That's dramatic."
"It's accurate!"
Shanshan grinned in the most evil way. "It's fate, Yaoyao. You two keep meeting everywhere today."
"I don't WANT fate! I want a peaceful life and working air conditioning!"
Shanshan pat her with mock sympathy. "Sometimes fate chooses chaos."
Su Yao dropped her head onto her desk again. "I didn't ask for chaos."
"Well you got a CEO with laser eye contact. That's worse."
She groaned louder.
Time passed painfully slow after that. She worked, but her brain was half-dead, half-anxious. Every time an elevator dinged in the hallway, she froze like someone hit pause on her soul.
Around two hours later, Chen Wei appeared beside her like an NPC with bad timing.
"How's the onboarding going?" he asked calmly.
"Oh… fine…" she lied.
"You look like you just wrestled a thunderstorm."
"I feel like it."
Chen Wei shrugged. "First-day syndrome. You'll get used to it."
"Will I?"
"Probably not," he said, walking away.
Great. Fantastic. Very reassuring.
She kept working until somehow—miraculously—it was already nearing 4 PM. Her heart dropped to her knees.
The task. The note. The cursed handwriting.
She looked at the file in her USB drive like it was a death sentence.
"Shanshan," she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Can I… ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Will you go upstairs for me?"
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"I'll buy you milk tea."
"Nope. I'm loyal to drama."
Su Yao dramatically sank into her chair.
Shanshan nudged her. "Girl, just deliver it. He won't bite."
"He almost bit my soul."
"That's called eye contact."
Su Yao stood up, swallowing hard. "Okay. Fine. I'll go. If I die, tell my parents I loved them."
"Will do."
"And tell the printer I never forgave it."
"Done."
She walked toward the elevator with stiff legs, like she was being marched to execution. The USB in her hand felt heavier than a brick.
The elevator opened and thankfully—miraculously—there was no one inside. She stepped in, pressed the button for 48, and the doors closed.
Her stomach twisted as the elevator ascended, floor numbers flickering too fast. She felt the pressure change in her ears, her breath catching when she imagined running into him again.
By the time the doors opened, she was sweating and regretting being born.
The 48th floor was quiet. Too quiet. Like the air up here cost money.
The carpet was thick. The lighting was soft. The hallway was wide and modern and so clean she could see her reflection on the metallic elevator frame.
She stepped out slowly, heart beating like she'd broken into someone's mansion.
Tang Yichen, the CEO's assistant, was typing away at a desk placed outside the large frosted glass office.
He looked up.
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
He recognized her.
Everyone recognized her today.
Her life was spiraling.
"Yes?" he asked politely.
"Um… hi… I'm… I'm from Operations Support… I have the… um… files… for… the CEO…" her voice got softer at every word.
He blinked slowly, like he was processing her anxiousness.
"You can leave them with me," he said.
She exhaled so hard her soul escaped. "Really? I mean—yes. Yes! Thank you!"
She tried to hand the USB over, but her hand did that thing again where it suddenly forgot how to function. The USB slipped.
She lunged to catch it.
Tang Yichen also moved to catch it.
They bumped hands awkwardly.
The USB slid across the polished floor like a runaway skating champion.
Su Yao froze.
Tang Yichen stared.
"…I'll get it," he said dryly.
She nodded with her whole soul.
He picked it up, wiped it off, then looked at it like it had the secrets of the universe. "Are these the updated files for the Cloud Credit summary?"
She nodded.
He opened his mouth as if to say something—
But the door behind him opened.
Her heart dropped.
She already knew who it was.
She felt it.
The shift in air.
The quiet authority.
The temperature drop by 0.1 degrees.
She turned automatically, brain empty.
Xiao Le stepped out of his office.
Black suit.
Straight shoulders.
Expression unreadable, except maybe his eyes were slightly less cold today.
Slightly.
Possibly.
He saw her.
Stopped.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Way too long for normal CEO-employee interaction.
Tang Yichen cleared his throat. "CEO Xiao, files from Operations Support."
Xiao Le didn't look at him.
He looked at her.
And she felt something in her chest melt and panic at the same time.
She bowed so fast she almost headbutted the carpet.
"H–hello, sir!"
Why did her voice crack like she was a teenager meeting a cartoon idol?
He didn't answer immediately.
He studied her.
Studied her like she was a puzzle piece he'd been missing for too long.
Then—quietly, barely noticeable—his gaze dropped to her wrist.
To the bracelet.
Her bracelet.
She instinctively covered it with her other hand, not knowing why she felt embarrassed.
He blinked once, a slow, unreadable motion.
Then said, "Come inside."
Five small words.
Deadly words.
Earth-shattering words.
Tang Yichen's eyebrows raised a millimeter.
Su Yao's brain exploded.
"I—inside? Me?" she squeaked.
"Yes."
He turned and walked into his office without waiting.
Tang Yichen looked at her sympathetically. "Good luck."
She wanted to die.
She walked inside.
Quietly. Slowly. With the posture of someone entering a lion's den holding a handful of grass.
The office was huge. Minimalist. Clean. Floor-to-ceiling windows showing the entire Shanghai skyline. She almost forgot how to breathe.
Xiao Le stood by his desk, hands in his pockets.
She stood awkwardly near the door.
"Closer," he said.
She moved closer. Too close. Not too close. Maybe close enough to fall off the building.
He watched her for a long moment, the kind that made her palms sweat.
Then his voice lowered.
"You're frightened."
Her heart slammed.
"No—I'm fine—I'm just—okay I'm a little frightened—"
Her honesty startled even herself.
He didn't smile. But something in his eyes softened briefly.
"You don't need to be."
Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one embarrassing himself at Olympic levels.
"I just… wanted to deliver the files," she murmured.
He nodded once. "I know."
But then he said something she didn't expect.
"You're very familiar."
Her mind blanked. "F–familiar?"
His eyes deepened. "Have we met before?"
Her breath caught.
Her world paused.
She stared at him…and somewhere, far away in her mind, a little winter memory scratched at the door.
She stepped back without meaning to.
"I—I don't think so, sir…" she whispered.
Xiao Le looked at her, eyes searching her face.
He didn't believe her.
He felt something.
Something old.
Something buried.
Something shaking free.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then he stepped back, expression closing off.
"You may go."
She bowed and rushed out of the office like she was escaping a supernatural encounter.
When the door closed behind her, she pressed her hand to her chest.
Her heart wouldn't calm down.
Inside the office, Xiao Le stared at the closed door, jaw tight.
She really didn't remember him.
But he remembered something.
A voice.
A winter day.
A tiny hand holding his.
And the feeling that something he lost long ago was suddenly standing right in front of him.