Work Text:
Today is a peaceful, sunny day on the 6th of July. For the ones who are falling in love, you can play a cheerful, soothing love song and they will think they’re filming a music video for it. If you could name a day like this, it would be a waste not to call it “a harmony”. The sun above and cool windy breezes brushing through your skin are forming a band to create a light-hearted and relaxing atmosphere as background music, perfect for unwinding or enjoying a leisurely afternoon. It’s still great without the vocals, however, for those who enjoy this kind of day, their happiness is syncing with gentle melodies to play its part as a pleasant rhythm that evoke feelings of bliss and contentment, perfectly paired with the balmy weather. And for Silver Wolf, she just needs a zesty and refreshing drink from the coffee shop on the 7th floor of her work building to savor this kind of day.
2:15 PM
Like every other day, at this exact time, 2:15 pm, Silver Wolf is taking drink orders for everyone in her Legal Department team of Star Rail Corporation. The office she’s working in is on the 27th floor of the Star Rail building. The Legal Department’s job is about giving higher executive managers opinions and suggestions considering the state laws and solving legal issues for the company. Her team is quite small, with only five people including herself but it’s full of astute professionals, which means everyone stands out in their own field, so she still likes her job so much, for now. Although Star Rail is a big company, their room does not require a lot of redundant space, so they are assigned to share the 27th floor with the Strategy Department. Back to the business, Silver Wolf needs to ask the people in that room what they want for their afternoon treat. For her coworkers’ silent comfort, which she also appreciates, she casually opens their ‘Stellaron Hunters’ group chat and drops a sticker of a black cat holding a cup with the word “Coffee?” in a bubble font (Thankfully, there are only five people in the room or else, she will have to send an Excel sheet for them to fill in instead of a silly coffee cat sticker). Everyone, including Elio, who is in the middle of a meeting, replies quickly, except for Ren, whose desk is right next to hers. With all the responsibility of an order taker, she can’t just pass anyone without confirming anything, so she carefully asked him while she’s looking at the menu choosing one for herself.
“Ren, do you want something for drinks? Matcha as usual?” Silver Wolf asks.
“...No, I think I want to try the custard apple tea that you had yesterday.” Ren still has his eyes sticking into the computer screen but replies fast, after three and a half seconds without any “Huh”s.
“I offered you to try some but you refused.” Silver Wolf knows he will try it anyway ‘cause Ren seems he doesn’t care what he takes in his stomach but he said “It smells nice” to her tea, it’s the most expressive thing he has ever said besides “Their legal team is stupid or what? This paper is like it was written by an AI.“ and it’s even positive.
“I don’t share beverages. Or food.” Ren replies without any emotions.
“Fine, but I knew you would want to try. By the way, do you want any toppings? It's paired well with extra shredded coco jelly.” Silver Wolf doesn’t know why she feels like she needs to help this man to make the most of her favorite drink. It’s not like she’s hired to promote it, why does she even volunteer?
“No I’m good.”
“Alright, a sugar-free custard apple tea for Ren.”
“Thanks.”
“ Hmm, maybe he’s turning off all notifs. Is he running through the new contracts or what? ” Silver Wolf’s hoping for herself, because if he is, she will take less time to prepare her mental will to read all of them, or better, none at all. Reading documents, according to Silver Wolf, should have a skip button and a summary, which Ren is the perfect invention in all cases. That man, by an unknown phenomenal mental power, can read thoroughly hundreds of pages in a working day and flawlessly score a 9.0 for Reading in IELTs scale. No, maybe a 10.0 even.
Silver Wolf sends the group order to Himeko, the manager of Astral Express coffee shop on the building’s 7th floor. It’s a franchised store of the famous brand that Star Rail Corporation bought, so the employees there never have to worry about the quality and taste of the drinks, and they can also enjoy the 15 percent discount exclusively for employees. Although there’s only one coffee shop in the whole 30-floor high-rise, the place isn’t always crowded like normal coffee shops on the streets. People make group orders and send them to Himeko. Once their drinks are made, Himeko will inform her customers to take them away. Because of the rules, Himeko and her workers do not have permission to deliver drinks to other floors. What a civilized and convenient way to do business.
3:00 PM
After getting Silver Wolf’s group order done, Himeko texts her and she asks Firefly to accompany her to pick them up. When they reach the elevator, they meet March 7th and Caelus from the Strategy Department, one of the elite teams of the company. If her legal team works like a sustain unit, the strategy team is damage dealer and marketing is damage buffing support. They greet each other when waiting for the elevator, exchanging “Hey” while Firefly gently says “Hi” when looking Caelus' eyes with a smile.
“Has the meeting ended yet? Elio hasn’t come back to the office for 2 hours.” Silver Wolf asks to sound like she’s a responsible employee who cares for her job. Well, it’s true because she intends to play some games before Elio comes back. She’s just a regular employee who enjoys her work under a big company for a monthly salary that will potentially disappear fast among the sea of butterflies, most likely referring to gacha games.
“Yeah, it’s just ended. I’m going to the Marketing Department to fetch some documents, and Caelus here is going to the 7th floor.” March answers. They always use the “7th floor” term for the coffee shop, since it’s the only reason they would come to the 7th floor.
“We’re going to the 7th floor too.” Silver Wolf turns to Firefly and sees her and Caelus are having an endearing eyes battle and small talks, something like “Are you free tonight? I’ve just started playing this new game called Zenless Zone Zero” and Firefly can’t hide her smile. “If I was Renless for today, I wouldn’t have time to play that game tonight. Thanks old man” She thinks to herself.
After bidding March goodbye on the 9th floor, they come down to Himeko’s coffee shop. Despite working on the 27th floor, Silver Wolf still prefers the interesting view above the city's bustling streets from Himeko’s coffee shop. The tables and chairs are now bathed in natural light streaming through expansive glass windows. There’s no customers sitting in the shop, since they all have to go back to their office.
Miss Himeko is too beautiful not to be a celebrity. And next to her right now is a young man that is too handsome to be a barista.
The three of them meet a new face which they haven't seen before. The young man is wearing a uniform and an apron, must look like he’s a new worker here. Since they all can be considered VVIP of Himeko’s business, they don’t hesitate to raise a question (perhaps plural) about this unknown good-looking man. They can spend some time on chit chats as long as it doesn’t last until off work hour.
“Hi miss Himeko, is that the new bartender of yours?” Firefly asks first.
“His face isn't bad.” Caelus adds.
“He’s handsome.” Silver Wolf translates.
“Wow Wolfie, that’s the biggest compliment you’ve made this year, it should be written when you’re announced employee of this month” Caelus says.
“Thanks Jaelus, it’s only been the 6th day of the month, I’ll try harder.” Silver Wolf plays along.
Miss Himeko smiles as she watches the conversation, then she speaks with a gentle smile on her face. “He’s family support, work here temporary”
“Does that mean he’s looking for a job?” Firefly asks.
“No, actually. He’s still studying at university. He’s helping me this summer at the shop. He’ll quit when the new semester begins.” Himeko replies.
“Oh too bad, I wish I could have my drinks made by him.” Silver Wolf jokes.
“Oh right, you should have his number, since I’ll probably let him incharge for a few days since I’m signing off for a shortttttt vacation, that’s why I’m having him here to help.” The way she said the word “short” doesn't sound like it but they feel like they are willing to accept it, although their favorite woman in this entire building is going away for a while.
“He’s just got in and you let him incharge? When will you leave?” Caelus asks.
Himeko replies “Maybe in late July or early August, it depends on the weather. I’m planning to travel somewhere near so I’ll just go by car, no flights needed. A small summer vacation by the beach sounds nice.”
“Good for you, we’re jealous. Wish we could have our summer holidays again. The trip in May was too short.” Caelus continues.
“Since when did you speak for “us”? I’m a decent employee that should be praised as employee of the month, unlike you” Silver Wolf seems to like playing this role playing game as an opposite person of herself.
“Haha if you want another vacation, I suggest you should get back to work to earn those numbers with flying colors. Besides, the ice in your drinks is melting, it will be bland, you won’t like it.” Himeko says.
“Not for Ren, you can give him lemon juice or bitter dark coffee without sugar and he still drinks it, that old man just ordered a sugar-free custard apple tea.” The good weather really sets the mood for Silver Wolf to talk a lot today to the point that she almost turns OOC.
“Oh so that’s his order, I thought he only drinks matcha.” Himeko smiles. “You can’t blame him, he has to sacrifice sweets for that physique, even I can see it despite the suit.”
“She’s right. I saw his abs in the changing room when we’re at the pool during the May trip. It’s worthhhh cutting sugar. I would quit eating sugar to have that hot body of his but too bad, I had my “Sugarfly”. Caelus adds to the last sentence with a wink to Firefly, who’s checking which bag of drink belongs to her team.
“Ew she doesn’t even look at you.” Silver Wolf half jokes.
“Her drink’s on me, I’ll carry your stuff to the 27th floor too.” Caelus tries to make a good impression.
“I’ll say something nice about you in the interview as employee of the year if you pay for my drink too.” Silver Wolf says with a smirk.
“You know what?” Caelus turns his gaze to Himeko “Today’s my treat. I’ll pay for the legal team too.” Caelus takes out his card and gives it to Himeko.
Silver Wolf makes a “Wow” and quickly opens Locket to take a photo of the drinks then posts it with a caption “early bday gift from #c4e”
3:20 PM
Silver Wolf and Firefly make their way back to the office and don’t expect to be welcomed by anyone. However, Kafka seems like she was waiting at her desk as she greets them the second they set their feet into the room.
“Welcome back. I guess you two had some fun at the coffee shop so it took quite a while. Is Himeko there? What a pity I couldn’t go with you.” Kafka says with a totally fake sad tone that she isn’t even bothered hiding it.
“Don’t sound like you’re not going to meet her after work. “Patience is all you need”. It’s still on your Instagram story.” Silver Wolf knows she wouldn’t come along since she would rather go online shopping than waiting for the elevator. Silver Wolf still doubts this woman chose Laws as her major because she wanted to commit crimes legally.
“By the way, it’s a nice photo, Kafka. You looked really beautiful in that dress.” Firefly says.
“Thank you sweetie. It was a wonderful classical music night.” Kafka adds when turning her gaze to Silver Wolf “with Miss Himeko.”
“Oh here you are Silver Wolf, I need you to-“ Elio comes out of his private room (well not so private since the walls are see-through glass)
Silver Wolf interrupts before she can hear her new mission. “Here’s your drink, boss.”
Elio takes his tea from Silver Wolf and gives her half a glare since he knows it’s her trick to get away, taking advantage of his short term memory due to beverage ambush attacks. However, as he can see this coming, Elio continues “Silver Wolf, I need you to investigate everything about this case and report back to me asap, I need this quick before off work so you don’t have to write a full report paper. Just crucial info but I’m expecting as much as possible.”
“Alright boss, I’m on it.” Silver Wolf relieves when she hears about the due timeline because working overtime for her, even 10 minutes, is like purposely taking stars away from her clear time records.
She could be wrong.
3:30 PM
While Silver Wolf is doing her job, low and rapidly continuous coughs from a man distracts her and catches her full attention.
“What the fuck why it tastes like sugar” Ren is still coughing.
“I was doubting you’re allergic to sugar but I didn’t know it was true oh my god. Can someone please call an ambulance?” Silver Wolf tries her best to be serious.
“A-Ren, did you get poisoned by an over-sweet tea oh my…” Kafka laughed.
“It’s not funny, I choked” Ren replies.
“Yes it isn’t, Kafka. His muscles are dying by an assassin named Sugar.” Silver Wolf adds, now she can’t hide her laugh because of Kafka’s.
“Or their name is actually Himeko. Why the hell did she put too much sugar in a sugar-free drink.” Ren says when he’s finding water to cleanse his mouth.
“I know she’s sweet. Thank you A-Ren. But for the murder accusation, I think it wasn’t her, maybe one of her employees. She doesn’t even make my drinks.” Kafka says and turns back to her computer.
“You shouldn’t tell everyone about this Silver Wolf.” Firefly says with a frown looking at her phone. “Not without any valid evidence”. A second later, Sam (Firefly’s alternative chat account) sends a video of their “trial of defendant "Sugar" on charges of attempted murder” after Silver Wolf told it to the group chat which has the whole Legal team and Strategy team, and Himeko. Only god knows why in 2 minutes it gains almost 200 laughing reactions in a group chat that consists of 10 working people in their working hour, even Elio, who is working in his office, sends 80 times the laughing face and besides those is a sad heartbroken icon from the coffee shop owner.
_________
[Star Rail ☆ Family]
Silver Wolf : bro is taking physical damage from drinking sugar lmao
Caelus : Who? Ren?
Sam : [Sent a video]
March : He’s in real pain lollll
Himeko : I’m so sorry Ren, I’ll make you another one ❤️🩹
Kafka : It’s alright darling, he’s recovering.
_________
“Dan Heng, did you put any sugar in the custard apple tea earlier?”
“No, miss Himeko, I didn’t. What’s wrong?”
“Our customer said it’s too sweet. Well he didn’t directly say it with his words but with his condition instead. Here, look.” Himeko finds it funny too and she knows the video shouldn’t be spread widely so she will just show it to Dan Heng, anyway he’s the one that should take responsibility for his “crime”.
Dan Heng watches the video of Ren after drying his hands. Dan Heng isn’t the kind of person immune to funny videos but the most humorous expression he can give out is a gentle smile. He knows he isn’t cold, he’s just…stiff. This time Dan Heng has to laugh a little to the point that he admits he might have put sugar in it although he really doesn’t remember.
3:55 PM
After finishing a new tea for Ren, which Dan Heng tasted himself and made sure there was merely a taste of sweet, he tells Himeko to inform the customer to take it. Himeko texts Silver Wolf to send someone to pick it up.
“Hey Ren, your drink is done. They tell you to pick it up”
“Hmph, okay” Ren gets up immediately like he’s a soldier in an army taking orders. Actually he just wants to have a walk but now he finally has a reason to do so. A walk to the restroom doesn’t count.
“Tell Himeko I say hi” Kafka says.
“Facetime her yourself” Ren rolls his eyes.
Ren walks out the Legal Department office with a hope that he won’t see anyone from that “Star Rail family” group chat because of that embarrassing video, although they all agreed that he looked more intimidating than ever but he knows they’re making fun of him again. Lucky for him, the whole trip from the 27th floor to the 7th floor is peaceful, with no one he knows in sight, he’s silently being thankful that he doesn’t have to be associated with any conversations. Miss Himeko, as he observed, is a thoughtful person and most importantly, is the kind of person that respects others’ personal business. Ren finally has the time to think and understand why Himeko is the most respected woman in this company.
When he reaches the coffee shop, he tries so hard to ignore the group of people, Stelle, March and unsurprising Caelus, sitting there gossipping. Not when they keep saying “Hi Ren”, “Ren, over here” like he’s their 10-year bestie. Or their pet. Neither are acceptable.
“How the fuck does this company survive when you all gather here like this in working hour?” Ren says like an old grumpy neighbor whose car got stuck in their garage due to someone’s car in front of it. It’s fair, until he’s blaming every 12-screen-time-hour gen z in the world for climate change.
“Maybe because most of us aren’t allergic to sugar.” Caelus dares to fire the first gunshot.
“It’s not funny. Stop making jokes out of it or I’ll kill you.” Ren frowns and looks directly at Caelus. He would look handsome in his normal state. Now he looks deadly handsome.
Caelus freezes for a solid 3 seconds. “I-I’m sorry. I understand. The biggest sadness is pretending to be happy” He stops to take a breath then continues “The biggest pain is always trying to smile.”
“Fuck I’m leaving. Here and the stupid group chat.” Ren moves to the counter to pick his drink and he will leave the group chat right when he gets a touch to his phone…on the 27th floor. He left the room so quickly that he forgot to bring his phone. If not for his work, he can live without technology for his lifetime.
“Oh no Ren is pissed. I told you he’s funny.” Stelle finally speaks and laughs quietly as Ren is only 2 meters away from them.
At the moment Ren walks to the counter, his eyes meet the prettiest face he has ever seen, and it belongs to a young man who seems to appear here recently. The young man owns a pair of green eyes that stand out among that small face and define jawline. Ren completely forgets about everything he’s going to say. He just stands there, looking in the stranger’s eyes for a long time, let’s say one and a half of eternity. However, he feels like the other is also staring at him at some points, or else it would be easy for him to break it and be more focused on the main matter. Ren is not the type of guy who will say anything first to his acquaintances, let alone a stranger. Yet, he still says “Hi” first, a very bold move for his socialization life plan.
“I’m here for my sugar-free tea. From the 27th floor.” Ren gathers all his confidence back after his mind seems to let it wander all around.
“Oh right, here’s your drink.” Dan Heng takes out a straw and lays it on top of the medium sized paper cup, then he pushes them together to his customer. “Do you need a bag?”
“Huh? What for?” Ren is so focused on looking for the barista’s name tag that he has no idea what the man in front of him was talking about. Then he realized. “Oh no need, saving the earth” He doesn’t break eye contact with the stranger, which he, again, has no idea when it started.
“Oh okay. Enjoy your drink.” The barista tries to let out a natural servicing smile, which he thinks he failed. “By the way, your previous drink was made by me. I thought I didn’t put any sweetener in it but actually it was the custard apple. We candied the custard apple because you know, it has an unpleasant sour taste when it’s raw.” Actually Ren has zero knowledge on fruits. Or is it a vegetable? He doesn’t know either. “This new drink I made here, I only used the raw custard apple so don’t worry, it won’t “taste like sugar”.”
Dan Heng moves his gaze between the cup on the counter and Ren’s eyes, which are soft and endearing, he could imagine these eyes calling him “baby”. Too embarrassed from the thoughts, Dan Heng has to save himself. “Sir, do you have any questions?” No, another wrong move. This isn’t a classroom and the customer is not a professor attending his project presentation! His professors could never look this stunning in suits.
“Yes, may I ask, what’s your name?” Ren tries to lower his voice as much as possible, since behind his back, 3 pairs of eyes and ears are working hard like their lives are depending on it. He knows because those fucking mouths have been too quiet. Only for situations like these, he can never be grateful for the silence they bring.
The barista seems to understand the circumstance he’s in, when he has heard (and seen) what this attractive customer is having. He introduces himself like he hasn’t heard the question that the man made. “By the way, I’m Dan Heng. I’ll be working here for a while for Miss Himeko when he has some personal business that she cannot come to work. I’m still learning so it’ll be great if you can give me feedback.”
Because Ren is a gentleman and for his manner, he should introduce himself too, right? It’s nothing weird (and flirty) with just a short exchange, even to a person who thinks everyone asking for his name is a creep and is going to kidnap him and sell him to rich mindless people for entertainment (if they can). He can always sue them to pay the price of invading his personal space.
“I’m Ren, from the Legal Department. I work on the 27th floor. I don’t usually go down here for drinks, except when I’m meeting with specific clients. But I don’t usually do that either. My job normally involves reading papers and solving some issues. They’re all typical things.”
Now the three mouths behind his back can’t shut up anymore. They all speak up in unison “Woah” so noisy that both Ren and Dan Heng can hear it. The three decided to keep silent again for Ren to end his miserable socializing attempt. Maybe one day, if they dare to spread fake news about him, he can make them pay the price.
“Oh good to know.” Dan Heng really really really wants to keep talking. He knows he won’t lose this job, but this fine man right here will if he still looks at those three so deadly again. He can’t leave his phone number because it’s a kind of flirting. What if the other didn’t have any intentions with him? They could be teasing each other all the time. Sure they do. Dan Heng finally decides to end the conversation with the most inoffensive response he could come up with.
“Hope to see you around soon”
The fuck was he thinking? He has already said “He usually doesn’t come down here”. That was so inviting. Hope that he kept a stoic face when saying that ‘cause all his charming points are below zero right now.
“Sure. Goodbye”
Ren thinks he wasn’t good at data analysis so he didn’t choose economics for his major. But he knows what is wrong and what is right, and he believes he can turn wrongs into rights when he can detect it. For the case he’s having right now, it’s not completely wrong but it isn’t near right either. He’s just stuck in the middle, hasn’t fucked up what he built ‘cause he has built nothing!
Dan Heng didn’t mention the price of this drink but Ren, as a gentleman, has to offer to pay for it. He almost forgets about it and left the store, luckily his consuming instinct woke him up in time.
“How much is this drink? I want to pay for it.” He adds the second line since he has already written a script which the other would response the cliché “It’s my fault so it’s on me”, or even worse, his pretty mouth would have to say “Sorry for making you almost die”
Dan Heng was really about to say it, but instead, he thinks he really wants to score this man so he steps out of his comfort zone and says. “It’s my treat this time. For having a conversation with me. Maybe I’ll let you pay next time if I make you listen to something about me.”
Ren is really speechless. He wants to be interesting but as a man who graduated from a prestigious law university, the first lesson he was taught is “practice makes perfect”. Or maybe not this time. There’s zero cases about “destiny was murdered by lack of practice” (yet). Ren pushes himself to be initiative this time, like a pro.
“Sounds great. I’d love to.”
Love is a strong word. Love can’t be bound by contracts. Love can’t be proven by evidence. Love is dangerous. And he said he would LOVE to talk with Dan Heng again? Even if the word doesn’t sound like it, he could use “would like” instead of “would love”. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t want to make this guy upset or misunderstand him. He can’t prove it but he knows it’s true. God, this is more intense than the atmosphere in the courtroom.
“Ren, can I talk to you about myself too? I don’t need free drinks.” Ren can’t decide if he should be thankful for Stelle, like she’s cutting him to make him forget about his headache.
“You can talk about it when we’re in the courtroom, Stelle.” Ren snarls but maybe he doesn’t look scary at all like he thought. Because what follows after is 10 times worse.
“Oh so A-Ren would LOVE to talk with Dan Heng in a church, holding each other’s hands while I’m in jail holding a bible. I’ll pray for you. Both.”
Okay now she’s bringing Dan Heng in. And what did she call him? “A-Ren”? If this girl is out of her mind, he will have less of a chance to win the lawsuit with her.
“Call me that again and I’ll answer you with a court summon paper.”
This is so childish, because it’s performed right before Dan Heng, his “sugar crush”. He wishes he could stop himself sooner, or if he’s lucky, Dan Heng was away and he had no chance to witness his silliness being displayed. Okay he won’t sue his coworkers (or ex coworkers by then) but he wouldn’t give them any advice in case they’re really sued for anything, even if they’re innocent. In fact, he will be the plaintiff’s lawyer for free.
Stelle doesn’t respond, instead, she looks at him with a pleading face. No, it’s not him. She’s looking at Dan Heng, who’s behind him. He is still there, watching the not-so-friendly exchange from the moment their conversation was interrupted by Stelle (was it?). Maybe, unhopefully maybe, Ren has gained some negative percentage to operate his “socializing development plan”.
4:10 PM
Ren quickly goes back to his office, feeling his heart go hard. Definitely the sugar’s affecting.
When Ren gets back, Silver Wolf has somehow disappeared from her desk. He’s silently thankful for that because he knows his face is not normal right now. Although he’s trying to make the cold stoic face as usual, his eyes and his lips are betraying each other. His eyes want to act sad while his lips keep curving upward, slightly.
“Ren, Elio’s office, quick.” Silver Wolf says in an unwilling normal tone. He doesn’t mind younger people being rude since he doesn’t care about his attitude around others either, well, unattractive people to him to be specific. But this time Silver Wolf doesn’t sound good and due to the “sugar aftermath” (definitely not the “sugar crush”), he asks naturally. “Bad news?” Silver Wolf replies shortly “Could be if you’re unconscious right now.”
With an optimistic mind and confidence, he enters Elio’s office.
“Elio, you called.” Somehow Ren never calls Elio boss. Maybe he’s too arrogant to address a man who’s 17 centimeters shorter than him “boss”. He thinks he should round it up to 20.
“Yes, you’re here. I know it’s thirty minutes until off work and I don’t want to keep you longer than that but-”
Here comes the “however today’s an exception”
“-however today is an exception. The company is having a big offer for a corporate project and we need to work on the investigation in a hurry to see if it’s legit or not. I’ve told the team to work overtime today but since you’ve just come back, I'm telling you now.”
Ren isn’t really bothered by this announcement because he hasn’t had any plans for tonight yet. In fact, he doesn’t mind working overtime either. He always thinks that one day, if he becomes the boss, the predicament will make his employees work overtime like himself before and he would never want them to feel uncomfortable about it.
Elio continues after hearing Ren’s low “okay”.
“Your task is to read these contracts, which belong to that host company and their stakeholders relevant to the project, and you have Silver Wolf to assist you. I’ve told her to be professional so you will probably hear less complaints. I hope you guys can make it before the sky turns dark.”
“The way he said makes it sound like it’s not a lot of things to do, so that’s why Silver Wolf acted like that” Ren thinks to himself. “Okay. I’ll send you a report tonight.”
“Thank you.” Elio says. “Take care by the way”
“Why is that?” Ren really has no idea.
“I like you and I just don’t want you to die in my office.”
He’s gonna fucking leave that group chat when he get: back to his desk. That’s for sure.
_________
When Ren reaches his phone, the first thing he does is open the chatting app and find that group chat. Somehow the latest message is not from Kafka, like the last time he checked. Instead, it’s from the system stating “Dan Heng has joined the conversation.” He feels like he’s a kid who gets caught by an adult for stealing something, right at the crime scene. Blood runs up to his face, his hands shaking so much and his heart is racing. He needs water. Yes he just brought a drink that he wanted to try, now it’s the time. Ren tears up the paper wrapping the straw and makes a decisively plunge, almost like stabbing the thin plastic lid with a straw. He drinks it while trying to calm himself down, chanting “Dan Heng, Dan Heng, Dan Heng” in his head(?) What the fuck why he’s thinking about a stranger that he’s just met for 10 minutes? Why does his mind have to betray him and remind him this drink was made by Dan Heng?
Ren finally finds some peace and his cool after swilling all of the tea in one go. Stay hydrated, he said. He opened the group chat again and go for the members list to see who added his /ahem/ Dan Heng into this horrible group chat.
Well of course it’s Himeko, who was he thinking. Definitely not those tittle-tattle twin racoons and the pink head. As a strategic intellectual man, he speculated, if he left the group chat in this situation, they would have 99% to commit gossiping about him, which he doesn’t care, really, if he dies. No way he will let it happen when Dan Heng is there and the “potential criminals” are too.
He decided to stay low-profile, ignoring the things happening and focus back to work. Maybe he’ll turn the notifications on, so he can lurk when Dan Heng texts something, or even better, he can reply to him quickly so he doesn’t have to wait. That’s how a strategic intellectual gentleman handles an unexpected crisis, like a pro. Now the crisis has gone, he can go back to his work and leave early.
6:30 PM
Ren knows his focus is not immortal, but he has never expected it to be this fragile. The victim, Focus, was found unconscious and the suspect is none other than the owner’s “sugar crush” (no, he knows it’s definitely himself, he’s just blaming nonsensically). The motives of this crime is the urge for going through the sugar crush’ socials and asking relevances (his coworkers) about the suspect with questions that he couldn’t find the answers for, like “Why Himeko’s sending him here?”, “What’s his relationship with Himeko?”, “Is he going to work here for long?”, “What’s your impression of him?” and so on.
However, there’s one question that he just can’t ask anyone, since they won’t know the answer anyways, probably no one will ever know, except for Dan Heng himself.
The question that even if he asks his past self, his past self is still hesitant to answer.
“Does he like…men?”
_________
Stellaron Hunters ★ Family
Elio : I don’t think I’ll be back soon so I’m asking the coffee shop to deliver some snacks for my team.
It’s overtime so it’ll be fine. Don't worry, you won’t have to go downstairs. Fighting!
Silver Wolf: u liar, this cant be done before sunset. even with ren’s help
Elio : I didn’t lie, you’re assuming things :p Besides, I told you to help Ren, not Ren to help you, that’s slightly different.
Btw you have free snacks, think positive
Silver Wolf : @Ren i officially abandoned u, u can have x2 snack. am leavin
Ren : 👍
_________
He knows that he’s the one making the process delayed. Silver Wolf is clearly wrong again. If he passed out, overtime wouldn’t be bad news, at least for him.
_________
7:00 PM
There’s a knock on the door, which is also made of see-through glass. The person outside just tries to make an announcement for the busy ones inside the room not to freak out because of a stranger entering their private work room.
“Hi, I’m bringing your order. Elio told me to send it here.” Holy sweet. This voice is familiar, why did Himeko make this angel work overtime too? Ren silently minus one point from the inexistent 100 points for Himeko that he gave her just now.
Kafka, whose role has always been the public speaker of Legal Department, is *obviously* busy with her work. And Firefly’s too shy, he thinks. Silver Wolf has clearly fled so Ren, as a man of responsibility and confidence, stands up and goes to the door, taking their order.
“Yes, Elio has informed us. Thank you for your time, Dan Heng. You can give it to me.” Of course he doesn’t forget to call his name, a new trick he learned from the “investigation” at 6 PM.
“You’re welcome.” Dan Heng replies while he gives the two bags to Ren. Ren must be an idiot not to extend the conversation they’ve just made. (Have they?) He arranges his tone, to be soft like he’s begging for something, which he would never do so it sounds 20% fake.
“Are you working overtime too? We have a spare portion since one of our coworkers has finished her work.” He hoped to himself that on one lucky day of his life, Silver Wolf would say something nice about him too. “Do you want to join us? We’re gonna have a break anyway.”
Now this time, Kafka has to look up from her computer to see if it is really Ren standing at the door or she has misheard something. Ren is inviting someone to join his meal?
After remembering what Ren had asked an hour ago, it’s finally clicking. She walks to the door and says casually, not to scare the strange young man away, as she would love to see how it goes. She probably will never have the chance to see this version of Ren again in a long time.
“It’s true. You see, we’re all on a diet and Elio is such a generous boss. It’ll be a waste.”
Dan Heng looks at Kafka. He knows even if the food is going to waste, he still doesn’t want to join them. He’s shy and he should go back to look after the shop. So he refused and try not to be rude. “Thanks for your invitation, I’d very much like to stay but I still have my job at the coffee shop. You can pack it home if you can’t finish it. Just a suggestion.”
Kafka of course doesn’t want this opportunity to slip through her fingers, so she decides to be a good friend, or a good coworker for Ren by playing “the personal relationship” card.
“If my memory serves me right, I haven’t seen you here before? What’s your name?”
Why are there so many people asking his name without introducing themselves first? Dan Heng really cares about this, especially when he’s a newcomer.
“I’m Dan Heng. I’ve just worked here recently” He decides he should skip the Himeko part.
“Oh nice to meet you Dan Heng. I’m Kafka. Himeko’s telling you she’ll be going on a trip right? I’m the one who’s traveling with her.”
“What?” Now Ren’s finally speaking.
“Yes, I’m taking some days off for traveling. Jealous?” Kafka moves her gaze from Dan Heng to Ren, who also moves his gaze from Dan Heng to her in surprise.
“No, I’m not. It’s not even my business.” Should he be?
“Well, if you don’t have any questions, I should get back to work. Enjoy your meal.” Again, Dan Heng sounds like a nerd poorly finding an excuse to retreat.
“Too bad, we just want to welcome you since Himeko and I have a very close relationship.” What does that change in pronouns even mean? Are they related to each other?
“What if I text Himeko and ask her whether you could stay here for a short meal, is it okay?” Kafka casts her last move, which kinda makes sense that Dan Heng doesn’t know how to reply since he said he “would very much like to stay”.
“Give it up, Kafka. Don’t push him if he doesn’t want to” Ren speaks up for Dan Heng.
“Don’t you want him to stay, A-Ren?”
“I have never said that” Ren replies with such a cool tone that Dan Heng gets surprised. He remembers this man 3 hours ago had “threatened” someone, Stelle, he recalls, to see her in court as she calls him “A-Ren”. Why would he remember this detail about this man? Right, because he’s an excellent student who possesses an almost perfect memory. He’s just curious about this goddamn attractive man. Maybe, maybe he wants to reveal something more for himself.
“It’s okay. As long as I can get Miss Himeko’s permission I can stay for a while.” For the first time in his life, he hopes Miss Himeko was an evil boss, or auntie, or both.
Kafka smiles, which clearly isn’t a good sign at all, but the man next to her also leaves a chuckle, and his red eyes meet Dan Heng’s. Right at that moment, Dan Heng must be delusional that he sees those eyes are sparkling as they have caught a gaze that was fixing on their owner all the time. He hopes his face isn’t turning red.
_________
The Stellaron Hunters’ plan of temporarily kidnapping Dan Heng has succeeded. Firefly realizes Dan Heng but she still acts like she knows nothing about him because technically, they haven’t interacted. And acting innocent also helps when her coworker, or friend, is playing his part as a host introducing everyone to each other. It’s fun. Silver Wolf would like this role-playing game too.
The four of them sit around the table where they host group meetings, although most of the time they work separately. All three of the Stellaron Hunters share the same brain cell as they automatically leave the seat next to Ren. As an intruder, Dan Heng cannot sit down first unless the host tells him to, that would be too casual for him so he has no choice other than to take the last spot left for him. The meal is peaceful and not so awkward since Kafka is indeed charming with her words and she knows her limits. But the woman lies. She lies about they’re on a diet. In fact, they aren’t. It’s the complete contrast. Their boss ordered the amount of food for five people. Even with one person missing, they still managed to share one extra portion.
In the middle of the meal, suddenly all three of them receive a message from their boss, Elio.
“Oh, it's from our boss. Dan Heng, please wait a minute.” Kafka politely announces with a smile while she lightly cleans her lips with a tissue.
“Sure, take your time.” Dan Heng thoughtfully responds.
_________
Stellaron Hunters ★ Family
Elio : Can someone check for me if my favorite lawyer @Ren is still alive? I forgot to tell the coffee shop to make him a sugarless drink…
Ren : Don’t be dramatic. I can’t die that easily, Although I wish to.
Kafka : We’re having the meal you sent us. Thank you, boss.
Sam : We’re also following the script.
————-
Ren asks out loud “What script?”
Firefly turns to look at Kafka like she’s asking for her support, or confirmation, Ren isn’t sure but it looks suspicious as hell. Ren makes a frown to Firefly.
“Elio assigned us a task when you’re away, that’s why we’re working overtime here.” Then Kafka switches her look to Dan Heng then back to Ren, signaling that their task is confidential and Dan Heng here isn’t a part of the Legal Department. Or at least that’s what Ren thinks.
“Mkay” Ren nods.
Then, finally something hits them as all three pairs of eyes are sticking on Dan Heng but no one’s speaking. Dan Heng looks up from his phone and realizes something’s wrong. Why does everyone turn back to their phone when he looks at them? He is sure he didn’t make it up so he opens his mouth to ask:
“Is anything wrong? Why were you all looking at me?”
Ren replies quickly and gives the two women facing him a glare.
“Nothing’s wrong. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure? Is it about the food or drink?” Dan Heng’s still nervous.
“No” - “Yes”
Both Ren and Kafka speak at the same time. Dan Heng can hear it’s Kafka’s voice that says “Yes” so he asks her:
“What is Miss Kafka? Please tell me.”
Ren gives his final (desperate) stare to Kafka but she knows it’ll be a push that Ren may never do because everyone in this room knows he’s bad with feelings. Perhaps the whole building. She gives Ren a look as to say “I got this” and looks at Dan Heng, who’s terribly curious what he did wrong.
“Our boss asked if Ren was still breathing.”
“What? Why?” Dan Heng frowns. Ren is now trying his best to hide from Dan Heng’s eyes.
“Dan Heng, since you’re already in our group chat, check the video that I sent” Firefly replies.
Because Dan Heng just got back from his phone so he knows there’s no new videos that the girl in front of him could send just now. So she’s probably talking about the video that she sent before he joined the group, which could be the thing that he saw from Himeko’s phone.
“Ah, I watched it when Himeko showed it to me this afternoon. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” He looks apologetically to the man next to him, whose handsome face is now buried into his right hand. “So that, you know, I don’t put any sugar in Ren’s drink this evening.” He notices this is the first time he calls his name. He tried to sound as normal as he could.
“And our boss is thankful for it.” Kafka smiles.
“Wait, you mean you watched the video before I met you in person this afternoon?” Ren’s face leaves his right hand and another not-so-cool Ren is finally speaking up.
“Yeah, Sorry but I think it’s kinda funny to be honest. And cute.” Now Dan Heng’s cheek is surely red. He has told himself that if he says the word “cute” like a normal person, it will be normal. He gaslights himself to think it’s normal to say others are “cute”.
Kafka definitely sees through this so she’s giving Ren a flatter that a normal Ren will block her instantly.
“Indeed. A-Ren is the cutest man in our team”
Well she’s not technically wrong. Ren is cuter than Elio.
“Stop it and have your meal” Ren feels his face hot. He can’t look at anyone right now, or let anyone see his face. Ren doesn’t know how to feel right now so he decided he will, again, stay hydrated to find his calm. Ren takes the nearest cup by his right hand and put the straw between his lips. Before he notices the straw he’s sucking has a sweet flavor, he has already taken a long sip and panically realized the cup he’s holding belongs to the person next to him, his “sugar crush”. The liquid he’s tasting isn’t as overly sweet as the tea he drank earlier this afternoon, which made him choke and suffered the scandalous tale of a nonexistent threat. He immediately puts the cup down and he apologizes for drinking Dan Heng’s cup without his permission. Although Ren knows Dan Heng is a good person, he still thinks Dan Heng would definitely be unhappy when he still acts like nothing happened. To Ren’s surprise, Dan Heng says while they’re looking each other in the eyes.
“What do you think? Is it good?”
Ren goes frozen and he hears Kafka saying something like “You know, today A-Ren just said that he never shared food and drinks with others, and now he violates it.”
Suddenly, Ren melts when he hears a laugh next to his ear, it’s Dan Heng’s. He breaks the rule again and lets himself look at Dan Heng endearingly for another one and a half eternity. He will work with the blocking people task later.
_________
Later that night, when Ren finally gets back to his home after finishing his work, he finally has the time to look at his contacts, now having one more profile. He and Dan Heng exchanged numbers after the meal and Ren even asked to drive Dan Heng home. Due to that, he knew Kafka wasn’t the only one lying. Dan Heng in fact intended to go home after his delivery job was done. However, since Ren offered to drive him home, Dan Heng said he was allowed to go home at 10 PM so Ren could have a lot of time doing his job. Ren, on the other hand, after getting Dan Heng’s phone number, his ability to read like an AI was back and he finished his work at 9 PM. When he arrived at the coffee shop, he saw Dan Heng was sitting alone doing his school work and he figured out the reason Dan Heng did it was to avoid distracting him from his work. He actually sat alone on the 7th floor, in the evening, alone, with no one else, and it was so dangerous to be by himself. Ren feels guilty about it so he offered to treat Dan Heng for a meal or take him to somewhere fun (actually he was going to do both).
Now Ren is staring into his phone, waiting for a specific someone to send him a reply. “Patience is all you need”, maybe that’s one of the things that women are right about, because the rewards for doing it are worth every minute.
Dan Heng : Have you returned home yet?
Ren : Yes, I’m home.
Thank you for waiting for me tonight but I won’t let you stay there alone in the dark again. I’ll bring all my work to the shop to work with you, if there’s another time.
Dan Heng : Shouldn’t you say “You can come home first, don’t have to wait for me?”
Ren : Do you want me to?
Dan Heng : …
No, I don’t want to hear you saying it. I prefer seeing you work.
Ren : I look good in glasses, don’t I?
Dan Heng: Too good not to be mine
[Dan Heng unsent a message]
Ren : What did you say? Sorry I didn’t catch that (Actually he was sitting by the phone the whole time so he’s just playing dumb)
Dan Heng : Nevermind. I sent the wrong sticker.
Ren: You’re cute. Too cute not to be mine.