Yui sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, and moved to open a report on her laptop. But she stopped herself. Suddenly, she felt like the entire staff of the little beachside hotel now knew that her father, the man who started building his empire at 17, thought SHE was a workaholic. Not willing to deal with such paranoia that early in the evening, she chose to retire upstairs, to her room. Her room was essentially a stylish shoebox. It featured a bed that dominated the space, a desk that felt more like a glorified nightstand, and a balcony that offered a cozy view of the hotel's courtyard and pool. The constant hum of the air-conditioning unit had the effect of a white noise machine.

With her emotions still in turmoil from the unplanned twists her day took, she started changing for the night. She had packed her yellow Gudetama pjs, much like a child would pack a teddy bear for comfort, never really thinking she'd wear them. As she pulled the vibrant yellow shirt over her head, she decided it was definitely a Gudetama pjs kind of evening.

She found herself reflecting on her father's advice. His words echoed in her mind, "Sometimes trying too hard has the opposite effect... You need to relax." She couldn’t shake off those words because they rang true. For Adam Stroe, this trip was the culmination of his work. For her, it was the beginning, the ultimate challenge. She couldn’t let him relax before the finish line, potentially costing them the race.

Just as her thoughts threatened to spiral into frustration, Mina's call lit up her laptop. Collecting herself, she put on a smile, ready to greet her bedridden best friend and assistant.

As Yui clicked 'accept' on the Skype call, her screen was promptly filled with the sleep-tousled image of her best friend since pre-school, Minami Williams. With hair that seemed to have had a wild party with her pillow, and glasses precariously perched halfway down her nose, the young woman looked like she'd been roused from a deep slumber.

Her normally bright eyes were bleary, and her radiant smile was momentarily replaced by a yawn that seemed to stretch on forever. Mina, looking slightly comical with her neck brace, giggled at the sight of her friend.

"Oh, Mina, how are you feeling? That neck brace looks so awfully uncomfortable," Yui remarked, a mix of concern and amusement evident in her voice.

"Fantastic!" the young woman responded, her grin widening. Her recent predicament involved a comical accident at the Nishiki Market. Distracted by a display of wasabi ice cream, she'd walked straight into a low-hanging sign that ironically read 'Mind Your Head'. “How is Málaga so far?”

Yui hesitated, "It's going... interestingly," she began, trying to steer the conversation away from Adam but failing miserably. "Adam Stroe is a handful. Can you believe he tried to lecture me on my own project?"

Mina’s giggles interrupted her, but Yui was too engrossed in her rant to notice. “I mean...he isn't all bad. He's brilliant at what he does, and watching him work on the robot is something else.”

Her best friend’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Oh yes, I'd love to see him. Show me!”

Yui gave in without any resistance. In truth, she had sneakily taken a snapshot of their engineer just for Mina. She shared it with her friend on the messenger, and the reaction was immediate. She stared at her phone for what felt like an eternity. Yui was about to voice her concern when Mina gasped dramatically.

"Yui, oh Yui! This man isn't just a Norse god, he's Thor himself, the entire pantheon in one! I'd wrestle sumo wrestlers, swim with great white sharks, even eat that wasabi ice cream without a sip of water, for a man with such chiseled abs, biceps that look like they could break chains, and a jawline so sharp it could cut diamonds!" a hand fluttered dramatically over her heart as she mimed fainting, only to be stopped by her neck brace. This level of theatrics was entirely unlike the usually reserved Miss Williams.

"Mina... Are you okay? That's very... descriptive," Yui remarked, her tone a mix of concern and amusement. She called out, "Kesha, did you give Minami the right medicine?"

Kesha's head popped into the frame, her eyes wide with surprise. "Yes, Yui. I double-checked everything!"

Yui raised an eyebrow, "She seems a bit more... enthusiastic than usual."

Kesha, looking slightly flustered, grabbed the pill bottle and held it up to the camera. "See, Yui, I followed the instructions perfectly!" she exclaimed, although doubt was evident in her voice. “I gave her 3… see, it says right here!” she concluded, pointing to a number in the small script.

Yui closed her eyes and raised her fingers to her temples, massaging slowly. The weight of the day's events pressed on her. Her head engineer had abandoned work to surf, her father had lectured her about overworking, and now her assistant was high on painkillers. “That’s the grammage, Kesha,” she sighed. Turning her attention to the still giggling and mumbling Miss Williams, she said, “Mina… you need sleep, okay? We’ll talk about insufferable Norse gods in the morning. Kesha will make your bed comfy and give you lots of water, right?”

Panicked, Kesha nodded vigorously, clearly regretting her mistake. She immediately set to work fluffing the pillows as Minami waved a giggly goodbye.

Alone in her hotel room, surrounded by the muted colors and the soft glow of the bedside lamp, Yui collapsed on her slightly squeaky bed. She grabbed her phone and frowned at the image of Adam Stroe working on his robot that afternoon. "He isn’t even that good-looking," she tried to convince herself, pushing the phone away. But not even a full breath later, she grabbed it again, her fingers scrolling over the image, determined to find a flaw, like an ugly mole on his perfect, tanned skin.