The next morning, Kaien was back to his ordinary life: textbooks piled on his desk, a half-broken laptop humming with the stubbornness of an old machine, and the faint sound of his younger brother playing outside.
He had almost convinced himself the night before had been nothing more than a strange dream — until a black car stopped in front of his house.
The door opened, and out stepped him.
Ren Tsubaki. The man who had stood beneath the lanterns like he owned the night itself. Except this time, he was sharper, dressed in a tailored suit, every inch the CEO Kaien had seen on TV.
Kaien blinked. "...Did I oversleep and start dreaming again?"
Ren's lips quirked. "No. You're awake."
Before Kaien could reply, Ren held up a folded piece of paper. "You left this behind."
It was his notebook. The one filled with sketches, equations, and half-baked designs for machines he dreamed of building one day. Kaien's stomach dropped — those pages were personal, his mind on paper.
"You read it?" Kaien asked warily.
"I don't usually read things I find," Ren said calmly, "but this caught my eye. You've got ideas that my entire team of engineers hasn't thought of yet."
Kaien's jaw tightened. "So you came all the way here to… compliment me?"
Ren's gaze didn't waver. "No. I came here to offer you a job."
Kaien froze. "A job?"
"At my company. Just part-time, for now. I want to see what you can do," Ren explained. "You're clever, Kaien. Smarter than you give yourself credit for. Don't waste it here."
Kaien stared at him, half-suspecting this was some elaborate prank. "You're seriously offering me—a nobody—a job at your billion-dollar company?"
"Yes." Ren's tone was matter-of-fact, but his eyes were searching, almost vulnerable. "Sometimes, strangers at lantern festivals are worth listening to."
Kaien crossed his arms, trying to mask the sudden flutter in his chest. "And if I say no?"
Ren smirked faintly. "Then I'll keep asking until you say yes."
Silence hung between them. Kaien thought of his family, the bills, the weight of a life that had always felt too small for his mind. Then he thought of Ren, standing there like a storm disguised as a man, waiting.
Finally, Kaien sighed. "Fine. I'll try. But only because you asked nicely."
For the first time, Ren's expression softened. Not the CEO's smile the cameras captured, but something real. "Good. Then come with me tomorrow. Let's see what chance can do."
And just like that, Kaien's world began to shift.
Not with a bang, not with a miracle.But with a deal beneath the morning sun, offered by a man who looked at him as though he had always been waiting to find him.