~The things about me others find troublesome, I know you find them cute~

The purple hue of the Seferan moon dyes the night. The city is still as most Elementains of this side of Sprikson have left the streets. All but the figure frantically moving along an alleyway. As the robed figure surfs along, the icy wind of the night swipes against their skin. The surfer, whose mode of transportation is the earth not water and a piece of wood they barely managed to grab as they escaped, had a terrified expression in their eyes as they exhausted themselves to the extreme pushing the earth waves as fast as they could.

Turning another corner, they see that the opening at the end leads to a residential area. Hope reignites in them as they encounter a literal 'light at the end of a dark tunnel'. With a burst of excitement, they increase the speed, hoping to reach the end and seek help.

Just 5 more metres,4...3....2

'Yes! I'm almost there'

"Hel-"

BANG

An explosion goes off in their mind and the earth waves collapse, propelling them off the board and onto the ground.

'No, did he catch up already!? But I trapped him' In a frantic bid to survive they turn their fallen body to the entrance to try calling for help again. At the same moment their lips part, a forceful blow comes from the back of their head, making them sprawl on their back and making their head ring.

"Aah!" a pained scream escapes their lips as someone heavily brought a foot down on their chest. The area darkens as clouds cover the light of the moon.

"You know, I'm hurt, to think you would run away like that." a soft sweet voice fills the air, the gentleness in the voice not matching the owner's action as with every word they press their feet down more, causing the person under foot to groan in pain.

"I was simply having a friendly conversation with you and what do you do, seal my beautiful new boots in mud. I must say I am disappointed."

'Friendly my arse, how in Seferan's name is grabbing me by the throat and trying to choke me to death friendly?' an incredulous and terrified look fill their eyes as they recall the moment when they were jumped out of the blue and viciously attacked.

The person above, ignorant of the feelings of the person they were stepping on, continued to speak.

"Well now, I'm in a foul mood. At first I was planning to go easy on you but I guess there is no need for that."

As the ridiculous words left their lips, another bang went off in head of the attacked individual, this one stronger and more violent. They had already exhausted themselves trying to escape and couldn't even move a teaspoon of earth. Their unknown pursuer had already badly beaten their body before they got away. As the number of painful explosions in their head increased, only the questioning thoughts in their mind kept them conscious.

'How did this happen; how did he defend against all my blows and how on Antarthos did he escape from my earth trap so quickly!?

But it was destined for them to be left in the dark as when a final painful blow went off in their mind, they lost consciousness.

"Hm" the attacker bends their waist to peer down at the body that just went limp.

"Oh my, I didn't kill her, did I?" though they were out of commission, the chest of the unconscious person went up and down. "Guess not"

That voice held a twinge of disappointment.

"Anyway, lets finish my business, those surveillance bureau bastards have better noses than pewros" as those words fell, the clouds blocking the light of Seferan moved and the visage of the person became visible.

If the unresponsive person was still up, they probably would have their eyes widen in shock and incredulity upon seeing the person who attacked them.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

…........

"Well, it has been a while hasn't it, Andriet?"

Andriet looked at the bespectacled man whose face became visible after she blinked. Neatly combed blonde hair shone under the sun's light, and the striking gray eyes behind his glasses focused their gaze on her. Unlike a certain someone, his suit was properly worn and his posture straight as he sat in the chair. The compelling and commanding feeling he gave off could not be denied.

"Yes it has." she replies to the man speaking to her before she takes her seat.

His slender finger pushes his silver rimmed glasses up his face and he turns to her.

"Have you been well?" a rich, smooth voice fills the quiet conference room.

"Yes, I have." her velvety voice responds to the man as she looks over the documents her assistant, Ligh, handed her.

After she finished her quick look over, she raised her amber eyes to look at the blond-haired men sitting across from her.

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course" he gently smiles at her as he waits for her question

"Who are you?"

"….. "

A blanket of silence covers the conference room.

His gentle smile twitches and his eyes widen a tiny fraction. Andriet's words also shocked the two other people in the room.

"Miss, he is the vice president of Lampsi Jewelries. You know the Lampsi Jewelries we have a meeting with today, a very important meeting, like determining my next bonus check important meeting." Ligh sharply whispered these words into the ear of her boss.

Ignoring the distress in her assistant's voice, Andriet calmly looks at the man across her, not a ripple of emotion in those amber irises.

"So, he is the vice president. That is what I thought at first but I don't know the vice president of Lampsi so I thought he either had the wrong person, he wasn't the vice president or he was just someone who was overly familiar." cool words were spoken with an equally cool and indifferent expression.

"….."

Silence descends again in the conference room.

"Ahem" he awkwardly clears his throat and uses a finger to push his glasses up, if one looked closely, they would notice a slight blush on his ear tips.

"We attended the same university and were a part of the Peitha together." he revealed their connection in an awkward tone.

Most high schools and universities have a Peitha, which is the governing body of students that controls and monitors the usage of powers by students on the grounds. The selected students have to have good discipline and leadership skills.

Andriet tilts her head down slightly in thought, then she directs her gaze back at him.

"Oh, I see. You seem a bit familiar now"

"….."

"W-well how about we begin the discussions" the fourth person in the room who appeared to be his secretary said to move on from this awkward atmosphere.

"Of course" Ligh gets up and starts her presentation on the board in the room. With every twist of her hand, the stick pointing at the board floats around and points at what she speaks on.

"The collaboration this time between Oslan and Lampsi Jewelry is to create a high-end fashion line that incorporates jewels into the design. As you all are aware, all Gi citizens wear some kind of jewelry as a part of their day-to-day wear, whether it is their thisa or other pieces of jewelry. So, the plan is to come out with a new line of clothes that look like pieces of jewelry themselves..."

As she listens to her assistant's words, Andriet thinks back on the people that she saw on the street earlier, with the exception of those who seemed to reside in the other sectors and countries, everyone else wore at least one piece of jewelry on them, most people had up to five on. Whether they were going to work, school or just casually the people of the country of Gi always dressed themselves with earrings, headpieces, rings, etc. The material of the pieces worn depended on what a person could afford. Going without or in excess of jewels was viewed as weird, like visiting Fotia in the winter wearing no jacket and winter wear or being overdressed with over five jackets, two pairs of gloves, two hats and three pants.

Andriet herself always wears the golden hairpin given to her by her best friend accompanied by at least two more pieces of jewelry.

The fact that the vice president of Lampsi and his secretary were not from Gi was obvious as in contrast to the two women in the room they wore no jewelry except their tie pins.

"...Oslan will be in charge of all the creative processes and the promotions of the line while Lampsi will be the provider of the jewels used on the designs, along with the special line of jewelry that will be the accompaniment to the clothing." having finished her presentation, Ligh drew the stick back to herself, placed it down and returned to her seat.

"So Mr. Stath what are your thoughts on the presentation, do you have anything to add or may we get down to the contracts?" Andriet directs her question at the blonde-haired man across her.

Instead of answering he raises an eyebrow at her. Andriet could tell what that action and the slight curve of his mouth meant to say.

'So, you do know my name?'

'Well, obviously I would know your name. How could I not know the name of a future business partner? I just don't recall us being schoolmates. I don't remember 9/10 of our schoolmates as a matter of fact'

But these words Andriet kept to herself and simply waited for the man's response.

Under her impassive gaze, his own face regained its seriousness and he took up the contract that was already on the table and spoke while going over it.

"If that is all, then I see no problem. I already agreed to the offer your side presented but before we sign the contract, I will have our legal team go over it and then sign."

"Ok that's fine, if that is all then we can end this meeting here, Ms. Teflon please wrap up and show them out I will return to prepare for the next meeting." the moment she finished her words she rose from her seat and exited the conference room without delay.

Unlike what Ligh predicted, the meeting ended earlier on the account that Lampsi didn't have a problem with anything, so there was little over an hour before the four o'clock meeting.

Andriet decided to spend this time wisely. She quickly made her way back to her office but rather than going to her desk she took a right, pushed open the ivory door, entered the room, kicked off her shoes, removed her jewelries and jumped into the bed placed in her secret office bedroom, trusting her competent assistant to take care of everything and wake her up after her nap in time for the next meeting.

As for that competent assistant, she simply sighed in her heart thinking about her sleep addict boss, and gave the two men an awkward smile as she gestured to them to follow her out.

'If you love sleeping so much, stop being such a workaholic and give us ALL a break'