Arini arrived at her new department with the nervous energy of a freshman walking into the wrong classroom. But the team greeted her with bright smiles, warm bows, and a flurry of introductions she knew she’d forget within the hour.

Still—something about them felt easy.

Within minutes, she was laughing with Mina over mislabeled files, helping Hyunwoo troubleshoot a system that magically fixed itself, and trying to keep a straight face while Youngmi whispered office gossip at lightning speed. For the first time since she’d moved to this small town in South Korea, she felt… included.

And then Jiwon walked in.

“Morning,” he said, sliding into the seat beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world. His voice had that lazy confidence, like he didn’t need to try—yet somehow always stood out.

“You settled, Arini?” he asked, leaning just a bit too close as he helped her with the software.

“Trying to,” she smiled, focused on the screen, missing the way the rest of the team exchanged looks.

Mina nudged Youngmi.

“He’s never this helpful,” she whispered.

Youngmi smirked. “Helpful? Babe, he’s flirting.”

“Does she know?”

“No. She thinks he’s just… friendly.”

“Poor girl.”

They giggled behind their monitors, pretending to work whenever Arini glanced back.

As the morning went on, Arini slowly caught on to the office dynamics—the silent alliances, the unspoken hierarchy, the subtle politics that shaped who fetched the printer paper and who got credit in meetings. She was beginning to understand who talked big, who worked hard, who complained the most, and who quietly ran the whole place.

And then there was Jiwon.

Effortlessly popular.

Effortlessly charming.

Effortlessly in her space.

Whenever he stopped by her desk—whether it was to check on her progress or just tease her about her keyboard speed—the team would exchange knowing looks. A couple of them whispered a little too loudly whenever he leaned close. Someone even fake-coughed “lover boy” once.

Arini, oblivious, simply thought this office giggled too much.

But she didn’t mind.

It was the first day she didn’t feel like an outsider.

And as lunch rolled around, she felt something she hadn’t expected:

She could belong here.