Thursday started with a flood of emails and a half-warm energy drink. Not exactly the kind of morning you'd see in a rom-com, but that's what corporate life feels like most days.
By 9:03 a.m., I had already answered a dozen emails, skipped breakfast, and spent way too long staring at a document titled "System Optimization Proposal – Final FINAL v2." My brain was still loading. At that point, my heart's only job was circulating caffeine.
I leaned back and sighed.
"Already giving up?" Kenji called out from the other side of the divider.
"Already dead inside," I shot back.
He peeked his head over with his usual amused smirk. "You're like a tired cat. All slouch, no productivity."
"And you're like a mosquito in a beanie," I said. "Buzzing around, stealing coffee, and leaving problems behind."
Kenji grinned. "Aw, you do notice me."
Before I could fire back, Lin walked in.
On time as always. Tablet in one arm, her usual thermos in the other. Her hair was tied back today, which shouldn't have mattered, but somehow made my brain skip a beat.
She gave me a nod, that small up-tilt of the chin she always did, and I mirrored it like I was cool or something. Which I wasn't.
She slid into her seat across from me and opened her tablet without a word. A calm presence, like always. She didn't rush. She didn't clatter around like Kenji or triple-click her mouse like half the team. Lin just settled in. Steady. It was easy to notice her. Lately, maybe a little too easy.
I turned back to my screen and tried to look busy. Her presence had a strange way of making the day feel more manageable.
A few minutes later, a notification popped up in my inbox:
[Lin.K] shared a document with you: "System Optimization Proposal – Collab"
Collab.
The word made me straighten up a bit.
Before I could click into it, a message pinged on our internal chat.
Lin: Hey, wanna work on this together? They paired us for the layout part.
Me: Sure. Just don't judge my formatting skills. They peaked in middle school.
Lin: So did I. But hey, at least we peaked.
I smiled a little, just under my breath. Kenji noticed instantly.
"Who's got you smiling at a screen like you just got promoted?"
"No one," I said, faster than I should have.
He raised an eyebrow. "No one, huh?"
"Don't you have something better to do?"
He gave me a peace sign and disappeared, leaving me alone with the shared doc, still grinning like the chaos gremlin he was.
Lin had already started organizing the sections, her formatting neat and color-coded. I added a few comments, hesitated, then typed one out:
Maybe we split the 'pain points' into internal vs. external? Could make the summary easier to digest.
A moment later, her cursor moved and a reply popped up beside it.
Lin: Good call. Look at you, using business lingo. I'm impressed :D
I found myself smiling again.
Later that afternoon, we ended up working in one of the side rooms by the windows. Just the two of us. Laptops open, keys tapping quietly. The kind of setup that, in anime, would probably have gentle piano music playing in the background.
"So," I said, looking up from my screen, "have you always been this organized?"
She looked over, thinking for a second.
"Not really. I was a complete mess in college. The color-coding is my way of making up for it."
"I wish I had that kind of system," I said. "My idea of organizing is making a new folder called 'Misc 2' every time I get overwhelmed."
She laughed. The kind of laugh that makes you want to keep talking just to hear it again.
"Let me guess," she said. "You were a night-before-deadline kind of guy?"
"Still am. The only difference is now I wear slacks while doing it, so it feels more adult."
She smiled, resting her chin in her palm as she scrolled through the doc.
There was something about her posture that made the air feel different. Not romantic, exactly, but intimate in a way I hadn't noticed before.
"Do you like it here?" I asked quietly.
Lin blinked. "Here as in... this job?"
I nodded.
She thought for a moment. "I think I like the rhythm of it. It's not exciting, but it's stable."
"Yeah. I get that. I applied thinking I'd just do my work, collect the paycheck, and leave."
"But now?"
I hesitated, fingers brushing my keyboard. "Now I don't mind staying late sometimes."
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she smiled to herself and looked back at her screen.
"I get that," she said softly. "Same here."
That evening, just as I was shutting down my computer, Kenji appeared with a loud, exaggerated yawn.
"You two are still here?" he said. "Did I miss the memo about a company sleepover?"
I rolled my eyes. "We were finishing the project."
He gave me a smug smile. "Right. The laughter from down the hall was definitely just part of the editing process."
"Go home, Kenji," Lin said, still not looking up from her bag.
He gave a dramatic salute and walked off.
I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder. Lin followed a few steps behind as we walked to the elevators.
She pressed the button, and we waited quietly. That usual end-of-day stillness settled around us, but there was something softer mixed in.
"Hey," I said as the elevator doors opened, "thanks for today. You made it less overwhelming."
She looked over, a little surprised.
"You make it easier too," she said.
The elevator doors opened.
We stepped in.
We stepped into the elevator together. Inside, the lights reflected off the mirrored wall, showing two people standing side by side, not saying much.
Just coworkers.
Maybe.
I didn't have the words for it yet, but somehow, the office didn't feel so cold anymore.