My first day was finally coming to an end.

Honestly, it felt like I'd lived through three separate lifetimes since this morning.

I had been late.

Embarrassed myself in front of the entire department.

Developed a completely inappropriate workplace crush.

And somehow acquired a suspicious application called Love Receipt that seemed far too interested in my personal life.

All things considered, it had been a productive day.

I stared at my computer screen.

Then at the clock.

Then back at the screen.

Five minutes.

Only five minutes until freedom.

I could survive five minutes.

Probably.

Around me, keyboards clicked steadily.

Someone yawned.

Someone else complained about a client email.

The office had become much quieter compared to the chaos of the morning.

Honestly?

I was starting to like it here.

The people were nice.

The work seemed manageable.

Nobody had yelled at me for being late.

Yet.

Maybe adulthood wasn't going to be as terrible as I thought.

A sudden voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Kang Yumi."

I looked up.

Kim Seo-ah was leaning over the divider between our desks.

"How's the first day?"

I laughed.

"Ask me again after I recover from the emotional damage."

She grinned.

"That bad?"

"I was late."

"True."

"I embarrassed myself."

"Also true."

"I almost died from second-hand embarrassment."

"Definitely true."

I pointed at her.

"See? You're not helping."

She laughed.

"Don't worry. Everyone embarrasses themselves on their first day."

"Did you?"

"Of course."

"What happened?"

She immediately covered her face.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I accidentally called the manager 'Dad.'"

I stared.

"...What?"

She nodded solemnly.

"In front of the entire department."

I burst out laughing.

"No way."

"Way."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish."

Suddenly my first day didn't seem nearly as bad.

"Okay," I said. "You win."

"I know."

We both laughed.

See?

This was the thing about me.

I wasn't bad at talking to people.

I actually liked meeting new people.

Making friends wasn't difficult.

Flirting, however...

Flirting was where my soul abandoned my body and left me to suffer alone.

Which was exactly why I avoided looking toward the other side of the office.

The side where Lee Junseo sat.

Not that I was thinking about him.

Definitely not.

Absolutely not.

My eyes drifted in his direction.

Traitorous eyes.

Junseo was talking to another employee while reviewing something on his laptop.

He looked relaxed.

Comfortable.

The kind of person who could walk into any room and instantly make people like him.

It was annoying.

Very annoying.

Because attractive people should not also be nice.

Life had rules.

I was pretty sure that was one of them.

As if sensing my gaze, he suddenly looked up.

Our eyes met.

I immediately looked away.

Professional.

Very professional.

Unfortunately, Seo-ah saw everything.

A slow smile spread across her face.

"Oh."

"No."

"Oh?"

"No."

"Ohhh."

"Stop."

She laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.

Before I could threaten her, a loud clap echoed through the office.

Everyone looked up.

Mr. Kim had stood from his desk.

"Alright, everyone. We're done for today."

A few employees immediately cheered.

Mr. Kim smiled.

"Let's go out for drinks to welcome our new team member, Ms. Kang."

The reaction was instant.

"Finally!"

"About time!"

"I've been waiting all day!"

"I call dibs on barbecue!"

The entire department suddenly came alive.

I blinked.

Was this normal?

Did people actually get excited about company dinners?

Back in university, if someone suggested a group activity after class, half the students mysteriously disappeared.

Mr. Kim pointed at me.

"Miss Kang, this is your welcome dinner, so attendance is mandatory."

My eyes widened.

"Mandatory?"

"Mandatory."

"I don't get a choice?"

"No."

"...That feels slightly illegal."

The entire office burst into laughter.

Even Mr. Kim.

"Don't worry," he said. "We're not that scary."

The jury was still out on that.

As everyone began shutting down their computers and gathering their belongings, I pulled my phone from my pocket.

The screen was dark.

No notifications.

No messages.

No creepy romantic predictions.

Nothing.

Maybe I had imagined the whole thing.

Honestly, that seemed more likely.

I had been stressed.

Sleep-deprived.

Running on caffeine and panic.

Maybe my brain had simply glitched.

I slipped the phone back into my pocket.

Then it vibrated.

Buzz.

I froze.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

I pulled it out again.

A notification appeared.

FIRST ROMANTIC TRANSACTION DETECTED

My eye twitched.

"No."

Another notification appeared.

EVENT LOCATION: COMPANY DINNER

My stomach sank.

"No."

A third appeared.

SUCCESS RATE: 87%

"Absolutely not."

I glanced around.

Nobody else seemed able to see the notifications.

Only me.

Which somehow made this worse.

"Talking to yourself already?"

I nearly screamed.

I spun around.

Lee Junseo stood behind me.

Smiling.

Of course he was smiling.

Why was he always smiling?

Did he ever stop?

"Mr. Lee!"

His eyebrows lifted.

"That sounded like a complaint."

"No!"

"Good."

I wasn't sure it was good.

Not for my blood pressure.

Then my phone vibrated again.

Buzz.

I looked down.

TARGET HAS APPROACHED

GOOD LUCK

I wanted to throw my phone through a window.

Preferably a closed one.

Junseo glanced at my expression.

"Everything okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"You look concerned."

"I'm not concerned."

"You look very concerned."

I pointed at my face.

"This is just my normal expression."

"It really isn't."

Why was he so observant?

That felt unfair.

Before I could think of a response, he smiled again.

"Ready to go, Miss Kang?"

And there it was.

That stupid smile.

The one that should probably be regulated by law.

My heart betrayed me immediately.

One beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

Traitor.

Complete traitor.

The phone vibrated once more.

ROMANTIC TRANSACTION IN PROGRESS

PLEASE DO NOT PANIC

Too late.

I was already panicking.