Shuun sat in his office.

Staring at his phone.

At Minra’s text.

[Minra: Haha, there’s no way it’s because of that!]

His eyebrow twitched.

He had spent his entire morning being “nicer.”

Ordered coffee for the entire office.

Did not scold a single employee.

Did not look at anyone with disappointment.

Did not breathe in a way that made people nervous.

And yet—what happened?

“Did our boss get replaced?”

“Is Mr. Hwa okay?”

“Is this an HR trap?”

“Maybe he finally got possessed by a friendly ghost.”

Shuun leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Why—why was he called a bad boss when he did something completely normal like scolding employees?

Why—why was buying them coffee considered unnatural?

This didn’t make sense.

None of this made sense.

And the worst part?

Minra was laughing at him.

.

Shuun’s fingers hovered over the keyboard.

He was tempted—so tempted—to reply with,

[Shuun: Are you calling your boss heartless?]

Or worse,

[Shuun: Maybe he’s just in a good mood today.]

But something stopped him.

Because the truth was—

He wasn’t just doing this for damage control.

He was doing it because he really wanted to apologize to her.

Yet the moment she had laughed—something had felt different.

He wasn’t sure what it was.

But it made him hesitate.

So instead, he deleted everything.

And typed—

[Shuun: I guess people only appreciate their boss when there’s free coffee involved.]

Then, he hit send.

.

Minra, still in the break room, grinned at her phone.

“You’re texting him again, aren’t you?”

She jumped, nearly dropping her coffee.

Reyne.

He leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

“At this point, should I start calling him your boyfriend?”

Minra glared.

“Shut up, Reyne.”

“Hey, I’m just saying. You’re glowing like a girl in love.”

Minra abruptly glared, taking a sip of her drink.

“It’s just a casual conversation.”

“Casual?” Reyne grinned. “Minra, I’ve seen arranged marriages with less commitment than this.”

She whacked his arm.

But secretly?

She was still smiling.

Because somehow, her bad day had completely disappeared.

And she had no idea that their CEO was sitting in his office, wondering why he cared so much about what she thought of him.

.

He set his phone down.

Turned his chair.

Looked out at the city skyline.

And sighed.

What the hell was he doing?

Why was he letting one employee’s random complaint about him get to him?

Why was he letting one employee’s opinion matter so much?

And why—why did he actually feel tempted to keep being “nicer” just to prove that he’s not actually that heartless?

This was ridiculous.

He had more important things to focus on.

And yet, he picked up his phone again.

Almost instinctively.

And found himself waiting for her next reply.

.

Chapter 14: “The Manager and His Most Annoying Employee”