My heart stopped.
My mind raced. My eyes twitched. Everything around me blurred, the voices in the office melting into indistinct murmurs, as though the world itself held its breath. I glanced around, feeling the weight of a hundred eyes locked onto me. Every gaze was a question. Every whisper felt like a verdict. And all I could think was...
Damn. I'm doomed.
"ARE YOU JUST GOING TO STAND THERE FROZEN?"
Reina's voice thundered like a whip cracking against stone, snapping me back to reality. Her heels clacked with sharp purpose as she turned and stormed toward her office. Her tone wasn't just angry. It was volcanic. Scorching. Final.
I gulped.
No words found their way to my mouth. Not a single syllable. I simply followed, my steps heavy and reluctant, as though the floor was dragging me into the pits of hell. Around me, I heard the office hum with gossip, like buzzing bees feasting on the nectar of scandal.
"That's him, isn't it?"
"What did he do?"
"I heard it was something... personal."
Each step I took behind her felt like a step deeper into my own grave. And still, that feeling... the burning sensation that wrapped itself around me like a cloak. Her anger wasn't hidden. It was alive. Radiating from her back. Piercing. Drowning.
I was doomed. No, I was beyond doomed. I was super doomed. Doomed deluxe.
And yet, beneath that fear, beneath the thundercloud of anxiety, an image kept flashing in my mind. That night. The night everything changed. Her breath on my neck. Her lips on mine. The press of skin, the heat of bodies, the trembling whispers. Soft. Warm. Naked. The way she looked at me before everything faded into black.
Was this... judgment?
But I didn't do anything wrong. Right?
I didn't take advantage.
Right?
I was still lost in the vortex of doubt when we reached her office door. I hadn't even noticed we'd arrived until she turned, eyes blazing.
"Close the door."
Her voice was like steel wrapped in velvet. Not gentle, not warm. A blade with a smile. My fingers trembled as I obeyed, the sound of the door clicking shut echoing like the final chord of a funeral march.
I was pretty sure I was done for.
She stood by her desk, arms folded, silence stretching into discomfort, into dread, into near madness. The tension was a noose tightening around my neck.
Then came the bombshell.
"You're fired."
I blinked.
My mind rejected the words at first, like a system error refusing corrupt data.
"W-what?"
That was all I could manage. One syllable. My voice cracked.
"You heard me," she said, calm now, deadly calm. "Clean out your desk. You no longer work here."
I stood there frozen, the blood draining from my face, my limbs forgetting how to function. The words replayed over and over. Fired. Fired. Fired.
I tried to speak. Tried to explain. To defend myself. To ask why. But my throat closed. The words choked in my mouth like smoke. Nothing would come out.
Reina didn't wait for my excuses. She turned away like I was already forgotten.
"Get out of my office."
The door opened before I knew it. My legs moved on their own. I didn't remember walking out. I didn't remember anything. Just the burning shame. The disbelief.
I walked to my station in a daze.
Colleagues stared. Some whispered. Others looked confused. A few pretended not to notice. But they all saw. They all knew something had happened.
I packed my things slowly, like I was watching someone else do it. The drawer creaked as I pulled it open. My hands trembled as I placed each item into the box. A mug. A notepad. A framed photo of my parents. My dream.
"No way, dude, you're leaving? Just like that?"
Ryo's voice cut through the fog. He was leaning dramatically against my desk, fake tears in his eyes.
"What will we do without our morning coffee fetcher? My poor soul... betrayed!"
He clutched his heart.
I smiled, barely.
"I think you'll survive."
"Barely," he sniffled, then looked serious. "What really happened?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
He didn't press. He just gave me a pat on the back and walked away. The silence that followed felt louder than ever.
The afternoon light filtered through the windows as I taped the last box shut. I was ready to leave. Or maybe, I was pretending to be.
That's when I saw her.
Hinata.
She rushed in, her eyes wide and filled with concern. Her hair, usually perfectly in place, was slightly disheveled. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked like she had been running.
"Haruki? What's going on? Why is everyone saying you're..."
I forced a smile. A broken, hollow smile.
"It's true. I got fired."
Her expression shattered.
"No... That's not possible. Why? What did you do?"
"I wish I knew," I said, my voice low. "But it doesn't matter now."
She stood there for a long moment. Then, quietly, she reached out and touched my arm.
"You don't deserve this."
I swallowed hard.
"Sometimes... dreams just die."
Her eyes glistened. Mine stayed dry. But inside, something cracked.
I thought of my father. Of the disappointment in his eyes when I turned down his offer to take over the family farm. The only time he ever truly looked at me was when he said, "Don't come crawling back when you fail."
If he found out I was fired...
I couldn't breathe.
Then the footsteps.
Sharp. Rhythmic. Familiar.
I turned.
Takamura Reina stood there.
I straightened, gripping the box in my hands. My heart was barely beating. I forced myself to look at her.
"I'm done packing," I said softly. "I'm leaving. Thank you... for the opportunity."
I bowed. Deeply.
Then I turned, ready to walk out of her life.
"Who said you're leaving?"
The voice stopped me cold.
I turned again, eyes wide.
It was her.
She stood there, one eyebrow raised, lips curled into a smirk that sent shivers down my spine.
"Come with me."
I hesitated. But my feet moved.
I followed her again, the hallway now eerily silent. We reached her office door.
"You gonna stare at it all day? Or are you going to open it?"
Her tone was back to its usual icy sharpness.
I opened the door.
She entered.
"Going to move your ass inside or not?"
I followed.
The door closed behind us with a soft click.
"You're not working with those idiots anymore," she said, not turning around.
I stared at her.
"What?"
"From now on, your office is here. With me."
I blinked. My heart jumped. Confused. Bewildered.
She finally turned, and there it was. That expression. Half amusement, half something else. Something unreadable.
She stepped closer.
I stepped back.
She stepped closer again.
I kept moving until my back hit the wall. My breath caught.
Her face was inches from mine.
Her warmth pressed against me. Her eyes never left mine.
I closed my eyes. Curled up, trying to hide my lips, unsure what was happening.
Then I felt it.
Her breath on my ear.
Fingers brushing down my arm.
And then her voice. Low. Possessive.
"You're mine now."
To be continued...